Enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements at high speed

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM). The systems, methods, and apparatuses can receive, from an access node, a configuration message having configuration information; determine, based on the configuration information, a measurement period and a cell identification delay for a secondary cell (SCell); identify, within the cell identification delay, a new detectable cell on a secondary component carrier (SCC) as the SCell; perform, within the measurement period, a measurement of a CA operation; and report the measurement to the access node. The configuration message can be a radio resource control (RRC) message. The measurement of the CA operation can be a measurement of the SCell on the SCC. The systems, methods, and apparatuses can multiply a measurement control parameter by a factor less than five (5) to determine the measurement period, and can multiply a measurement control parameter by a factor less than twenty (20) to determine the cell identification delay. The systems, methods, and apparatuses can further perform an action with respect to the SCell in response to the measurement.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 809,439, filed February 22, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Various implementation schemes can typically involve the field of wireless communications. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Some implementations may include methods for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM). These methods may include receiving a configuration message with configuration information from an access node; determining a measurement period and cell identification delay for a secondary cell (SCell) based on the configuration information; identifying a new detectable cell on a secondary component carrier (SCC) as an Scell ​​within the cell identification delay; performing measurements of CA operations within the measurement period; and reporting the measurements to the access node.

[0005] In these implementations, configuration messages may include Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages.

[0006] In these implementations, the measurement of CA operation may include the measurement of SCell on SCC.

[0007] In these implementations, the method may also include performing an action on the Scell ​​in response to a measurement.

[0008] In these implementations, determining the measurement cycle may include multiplying the measurement control parameter by a factor less than five (5).

[0009] In these implementations, the determination may include multiplying the measured control parameters by a factor of less than twenty (20) to determine the cell identification delay.

[0010] In these implementations, the SCell can be a deactivated SCell.

[0011] Some implementations may include means for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM). The means may include radio front-end circuitry and processing circuitry. The radio front-end circuitry may receive a configuration message containing configuration information from an access node. The processing circuitry may determine the measurement period and cell identification delay of a secondary cell (SCell) based on the configuration information, identify new detectable cells on the secondary component carrier (SCC) as Scells within the cell identification delay, and perform measurements for CA operations within the measurement period. The radio front-end circuitry may further report the measurements to the access node.

[0012] In these implementations, configuration messages may include Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages.

[0013] In these implementations, the measurement of CA operation may include the measurement of SCell on SCC.

[0014] In these implementations, the processing circuitry may further perform actions with respect to the Scell ​​in response to the measurement.

[0015] In these implementations, the processing circuitry can multiply the measurement control parameters by a factor of less than five (5) to determine the measurement cycle.

[0016] In these implementations, the processing circuitry can multiply the measured control parameters by a factor of less than twenty (20) to determine the cell identification delay.

[0017] In these implementations, the SCell can be a deactivated SCell.

[0018] Some implementations may include a system for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM). This system may include an access node and user equipment (UE). The access node can provide configuration messages containing configuration information from the access node. The UE can determine the measurement period and cell identification delay of the secondary cell (SCell) based on the configuration information, identify new detectable cells on the secondary component carrier (SCC) as Scells within the cell identification delay, perform measurements for CA operations within the measurement period, and report the measurements to the access node.

[0019] In these implementations, configuration messages may include Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages.

[0020] In these implementations, the measurement of CA operation may include the measurement of SCell on SCC.

[0021] In these implementations, the UE can further perform actions related to the Scell ​​in response to the measurement.

[0022] In these implementations, the UE can multiply the measurement control parameters by a factor of less than five (5) to determine the measurement cycle.

[0023] In these implementations, the UE can multiply the measurement control parameters by a factor of less than twenty (20) to determine the cell identification delay.

[0024] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0025] This disclosure is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or similarly functional elements. Furthermore, the leftmost digit of the reference numeral indicates the drawing in which that reference numeral first appears. In the drawings:

[0026] Figure 1 Exemplary architectures of systems based on networks according to various implementation schemes are shown;

[0027] Figure 2 Exemplary architectures of systems including a first CN according to various implementation schemes are shown;

[0028] Figure 3 The architecture of a system including a second CN is shown according to various implementation schemes;

[0029] Figure 4 Examples of infrastructure equipment according to various implementation schemes are shown;

[0030] Figure 5 Examples of platforms (or "devices") according to various implementation schemes are shown;

[0031] Figure 6 Exemplary components of a baseband circuit and a radio front-end module (RFEM) according to various embodiments are shown;

[0032] Figure 7 Various protocol functions that can be implemented in wireless communication devices according to various implementation schemes are illustrated;

[0033] Figure 8 The components of the core network according to various implementation schemes are shown;

[0034] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating components of a system for supporting Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) according to some exemplary embodiments;

[0035] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments.

[0036] Figure 11 A first flowchart illustrating a method for performing enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements at high speeds, according to some embodiments, is shown; and

[0037] Figure 12 A second flowchart is shown, according to some implementation schemes, for performing enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements at high speeds.

[0038] This disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0039] The following detailed description relates to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details, such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth for illustrative and non-limiting purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples departing from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0040] Carrier aggregation (CA) is a technique that combines two or more carriers into a single data channel to enhance data capacity. In CA, a primary component carrier (PCC) is complementary to one or more secondary component carriers (SCCs). The PCC handles control signaling, while the SCCs can be used to increase data throughput. Three types of CA can be defined by the configuration of the component carriers, which can include intra-band continuous CA, intra-band discontinuous CA, and inter-band discontinuous CA. Version (Rel) 16 supports CA in high-speed scenarios. User equipment (UE) continuously measures the quality of the currently serving cell and the quality of deactivated neighboring cells (also known as deactivated secondary cells (SCells)). As an example, cell identification (also known as cell search) can include measurements, whereby the UE attempts to find the most suitable frequency channel in a specific frequency band used in the area within a measurement period during power-on. However, the current UE measurement requirements for CA are derived based on low-speed or medium-speed scenarios. This can result in cell identification delays and measurement periods on deactivated SCells that are quite long in high-speed scenarios, leading to inefficient CA. For example, the cell identification delay on the SCC is approximately between 3.2s and 25.6s in 20*MeasCycleSCell of Discontinuous Reception (DRX). For a high-speed train moving at 500km / h, the UE can travel approximately 450m to 3600m within the interval of 3.2s to 25.6s. Due to this distance, the UE can pass through several cells during this time period.

[0041] Apply enhanced measurements to secondary component carrier (SCC)

[0042] In some implementations, the UE may be configured with indicators for high-speed scenarios, such as the highSpeedEnhancedMeasFlag. In these implementations, when the highSpeedEnhancedMeasFlag is configured, PCC measurements can be enhanced according to 3GPP TS36.133 Clause 8.3.3.1, where enhanced measurement requirements are defined in 3GPP TS38.133 Clause 8.1.2.2, which reduces cell identification delay and measurement cycles. In these implementations, measurements may include the cell's Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement, the cell's Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) measurement, and / or the cell's Reference Signal-to-Noise Ratio and Interference Ratio (RS-SINR) measurement, to provide some examples. In these implementations, when the highSpeedEnhancedMeasFlag is configured, the enhanced measurement requirements for PCC can be applied to the measurement of SCCs with deactivated SCells. In these implementations, such enhanced measurements can be applied to SCCs with deactivated SCells. The implementation scheme described in further detail below can utilize deactivated SCells to enhance the cell identification delay and measurement period of an SCC. The following detailed description will describe various mechanisms for enhancing measurements of an SCC with deactivated SCells. For example, as described above, enhanced measurements on a PCC can be applied to an SCC with deactivated SCells.

[0043] Exemplary candidate values ​​for MeasCycleSCell

[0044] In some implementations, when a SCell is deactivated, the MeasCycleSCell can control measurement requirements, such as the measurement cycle. For example, the MeasCycleSCell can indicate the measurement cycle of a deactivated SCell. The MeasCycleSCell is specified in Clause 6.3.5 of TS36.331 as:

[0045] MeasCycleSCell-r10::=ENUMERATED{sf160,sf256,sf320,sf512,sf640,sf1024,sf1280,sparel}

[0046] In the above text, sf160 corresponds to 160 subframes, sf256 corresponds to 256 subframes, and so on. In some implementations, MeasCycleSCell can be used when the SCell is configured on the frequency indicated by the measObject and is in an inactive state, see TS 36.133 [16, 8.3.3]. For example, MeasCycleSCell can be configured whenever the SCell is configured on the frequency indicated by the measObject, but it can also be signaled when the SCell is not configured. As shown in the MeasCycleSCell specification above, the minimum value is 160ms, which is considered quite long in high-speed scenarios. For high-speed scenarios, other smaller candidate values ​​can be introduced, such as:

[0047] MeasCycleSCell-r10::=ENUMERATED{sf40, sf80, sf160, sf256, sf320, sf512, sf640, sf1024, sf1280, spare}

[0048] In the example above, new candidate values ​​for sf40 corresponding to 40 subframes and / or sf80 corresponding to 80 subframes could be introduced. However, other candidate values ​​less than 160ms could be similarly introduced for high-speed scenes.

[0049] The reduction in cell identification latency of the new detectable cells

[0050] When common discontinuous reception (DRX) is not used, the cell identification delay of a new detectable cell on the SCC can be expressed as 20 * MeasCycleSCell. In some implementations, this can be reduced by decreasing a factor prior to measCycleSCell. For example, the cell identification delay of a new detectable cell on the SCC can be reduced from 20 * MeasCycleSCell to X1 * MeasCycleSCell, where X1 can be 12, 15, 18, or any other suitable value less than 20.

[0051] Reduction of measurement cycle for deactivated SCell measurements

[0052] When common discontinuous reception (DRX) is not used, the measurement period of a deactivated SCell can be expressed as 5 * MeasCycleSCell. In some implementations, for example, when common DRX is not used, the measurement period of a deactivated SCell measurement can be reduced by decreasing a factor preceding measCycleSCell. For example, the measurement period of a deactivated SCell measurement can be reduced from 5 * MeasCycleSCell to X2 * MeasCycleSCell, where X2 can be 3, 4, or any other suitable value less than 5.

[0053] When using Common Discontinuous Receiver (DRX), the measurement period of the deactivated SCell measurement can be expressed as max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T) measure_scc1 In some implementations, for example, when not using the common DRX, the measurement cycle for deactivating the SCell measurement may additionally or alternatively be set from max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T). measure_scc1 Decrease to max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T) measure_scc1_hs ), where T measure_scc1_hs Less than T measure_scc1 In these implementations, T measure_scc1 This can be defined as follows by Clause 8.3.3.2.2 and Table 8.3.3.2.2-2 of 3GPP TS36.133:

[0054]

[0055] In some implementations, T measure_scc1 It can be reduced to T as follows measure_scc1_hs :

[0056]

[0057] In these implementations, the values ​​indicated in parentheses are exemplary. These values ​​can be compared to T. measure_scc1 Any other value smaller than the defined corresponding value.

[0058] The reduction in cell identification latency of the new detectable cells

[0059] When using Common Discontinuous Reception (DRX), the cell identification delay of a new detectable cell on the SCC can be expressed as max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T). identify_scc1 In some implementations, for example, when using public DRX, the cell identifier delay of a new detectable cell on the SCC can be reduced from max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T). identify_scc1Decrease to max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T) identify_scc_hs ), where T identify_scc_hs Shorter than T identify_scc1 For example, T identify_scc1 The following is defined in Clause 8.3.3.2.2 and Table 8.3.3.2.2-1 of TS36.133:

[0060]

[0061] In some implementations, T identify_scc1 It can be reduced to T as follows identify_scc1_hs :

[0062]

[0063] In these implementations, the values ​​indicated in parentheses are exemplary. These values ​​can be compared to T. identify_scc1 Any other value smaller than the defined corresponding value.

[0064] Exemplary System

[0065] Figure 1 Exemplary architectures of systems based on various implementation schemes are illustrated. The following description is provided for an exemplary system 100 operating in combination with the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system standard provided by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technical specifications and the 5th generation (5G) or NR system standard. However, the exemplary implementations are not limited in this respect, and the implementations can be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., 6th generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WLAN, WiMAX, etc.), etc.

[0066] like Figure 1As shown, system 100 includes user equipment (UE) 101a and UE 101b (collectively referred to as "UE 101"). In this example, UE 101 is shown as a smartphone (e.g., a handheld touchscreen mobile computing device that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as consumer electronics devices, mobile phones, smartphones, feature phones, tablets, wearable computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptops, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument cluster (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices, onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminal (MDT), electronic engine management system (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control unit (ECU), electronic / engine electronic control module (ECM), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management system (EMS), connected or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0067] In some implementations, any of UEs 101 may be an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed to utilize low-power IoT applications with short-lived UE connections. The IoT UE may use technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communication (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), Proximity Services (ProSe), or Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keeping track of activity messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.

[0068] UE 101 may be configured to connect to (e.g., communicatively coupled to) a radio access network (RAN) 110. In some implementations, RAN 110 may be a next-generation (NG) RAN or a 5G RAN, an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), or a legacy RAN such as a UTRAN or a GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN). As used herein, the term “NGRAN” and the like may refer to RAN 110 operating in an NR or 5G system 100, while the term “E-UTRAN” and the like may refer to RAN 110 operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. Multiple UEs 101 utilize connections (or channels) 103 and 104, each connection including a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0069] In this example, connections 103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces for communication coupling and are compatible with cellular communication protocols such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocol, Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, Wireless Push-to-Talk (POC) protocol, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, 3GPP LTE protocol, 5G protocol, NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocols discussed herein. In some implementations, UE 101 may directly exchange communication data via the Proximity Service (ProSe) interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as the Sidelink (SL) interface 105 and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel (PSDCH), and Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0070] UE 101b is shown configured to access access point (AP) 106 (also referred to as "WLAN node 106", "WLAN 106", "WLAN termination 106", "WT 106", etc.) via connection 107. Connection 107 may include local wireless connectivity, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 106 will include Wireless Fibre. Router. In this example, AP 106 is shown connected to the Internet but not to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various implementations, UE 101b, RAN 110, and AP 106 can be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve RAN nodes 111a-b configuring UE 101b, which is in the RRC_CONNECTED state, to utilize the radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 101b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 107) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) transmitted through connection 107. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header to protect the original header of the IP packet.

[0071] RAN 110 includes one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 111a and 111b (collectively referred to as "RAN node 111") that enable connections between 103 and 104. As used herein, the terms "access node," "access point," etc., can describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between the network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, or TRP, etc., and can 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," etc., can refer to RAN node 111 (e.g., gNB) operating in NR or 5G system 100, while the terms "E-UT RAN node," etc., can refer to RAN node 111 (e.g., eNB) operating in LTE or 4G system 100. According to various implementation schemes, RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as macro cell base stations and / or low-power (LP) base stations for providing smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth compared to macro cells.

[0072] In some implementations, all or part of RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as CRAN and / or Virtual Baseband Unit Pool (vBBUP). In these implementations, CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function partitioning, such as PDCP partitioning, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 111; MAC / PHY partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 111; or "lower PHY" partitioning, where the upper portion of the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers is operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portion of the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 111. This virtualization framework allows the idle processor cores of multiple RAN nodes 111 to execute additional virtualized applications. In some implementations, a single RAN node 111 may represent a virtual network via a single F1 interface (…). Figure 1 (Not shown) A separate gNB-DU connected to the gNB-CU. In these specific implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio head units or RFEMs (see, for example, Figure 4 The gNB-CU can be operated by a server (not shown) located in RAN 110 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more RAN nodes in RAN 111 can be next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs) that provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to multiple UEs 101 and are connected to the 5GC (e.g., via an ng interface (discussed below)). Figure 3 RAN node of CN 320.

[0073] In a V2X scenario, one or more nodes in RAN Node 111 can be an RSU or act as an RSU. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" can refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. An RSU can 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 can be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB can be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB can be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled to radio frequency circuitry located on the roadside that provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE 101 (vUE101). An 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 Near Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low-latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance and traffic warnings. Alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communication as well as other cellular communication services. 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 communication. Some or all of the radio frequency circuitry in the computing device and the RSU may be encapsulated in a weather-resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide wired connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) to traffic signal controllers and / or backhaul networks.

[0074] Any node in RAN 111 can serve as the endpoint of the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for UE 101. In some implementations, any node in RAN 111 can perform various logical functions of RAN 110, including but not limited to the functions of the Radio Network Controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0075] In some implementations, UE 101 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 111 on a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals, based on various communication technologies such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the implementation is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0076] In some implementations, the downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any node in RAN 111 to UE 101, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink within each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation is common practice for OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and 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 comprises multiple resource blocks that describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources currently available for allocation. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0077] According to various implementations, UE 101 and RAN node 111 transmit data (e.g., transmit and receive data) through licensed media (also referred to as “licensed spectrum” and / or “licensed band”) and unlicensed shared media (also referred to as “unlicensed spectrum” and / or “unlicensed band”). Licensed spectrum may include channels operating in the frequency range of approximately 200 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz band.

[0078] To operate in unlicensed spectrum, UE 101 and RAN node 111 may use LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these specific implementations, UE 101 and RAN node 111 may perform one or more known medium sensing and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. Medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a Listen-After-Speak (LBT) protocol.

[0079] LBT is a mechanism that equipment (e.g., UE 101, RAN node 111, etc.) uses to sense a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a specific channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). Medium sensing operations may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine the presence of other signals on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. This 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 in a intended transmission band over a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy with predefined or configured thresholds.

[0080] Typically, existing systems in the 5GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 101, AP 106, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node can first perform CCA before transmitting. Additionally, in cases where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. This backoff mechanism can be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS, which increases exponentially upon collision and resets to a minimum value upon successful transmission. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to WLAN's CSMA / CA. In some implementations, the LBT process for DL ​​or UL transmission bursts (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions) can have a variable-length LAA contention window between the X and Y ECCA time slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the LAA's CWS. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission can be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (e.g., transmission burst) can be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0081] The LAA mechanism is built upon the CA technology of LTE-Advanced systems. 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 a maximum of five CCs can be aggregated, thus the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers can differ for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or less than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual CCs can have different bandwidths than the other CCs. In TDD systems, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are usually the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0082] The CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of serving cells can differ, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands may experience different path losses. The primary serving cell, or PCell, provides the PCC for both UL and DL and handles activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell provides a separate SCC for both UL and DL. SCCs can be added and removed as needed, and changing the PCC may require UE 101 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells can operate in unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and LAA SCells are assisted by PCells operating in licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured to have more than one LAA SCell, the UE can receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0083] The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to multiple UEs 101. Among other information, the PDCCH carries information about the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform multiple UEs 101 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 101b within the cell) can be performed at any of the RAN nodes 111 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 101. Downlink resource allocation information can be transmitted on the PDCCH used for (e.g., allocated to) each UE in the UEs 101.

[0084] PDCCH uses CCEs to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the complex-valued symbols of the PDCCH 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, called REGs, each with four physical resource elements. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the DCI size and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. Four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8) can exist.

[0085] Some implementations may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some implementations may utilize EPDCCH, which uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similarly, each ECCE may correspond to a set of nine, each consisting of four physical resource elements, called EREG. In some cases, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.

[0086] RAN nodes 111 can be configured to communicate with each other via interface 112. In some implementations where system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 120 is...), Figure 2 In the case of EPC 220, interface 112 can be an X2 interface 112. The X2 interface can be defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to EPC 120, and / or between two eNBs connected to EPC 120. In some embodiments, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). X2-U provides flow control mechanisms for user data packets transmitted via the X2 interface and can be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, X2-U provides specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from MeNB to SeNB; information about the successful in-order delivery of PDCP PDUs from SeNB to UE 101 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to UE 101; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. The X2-C provides LTE intra-eNB access mobility functions, including context transmission from the source eNB to the destination eNB, user plane transmission control, load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0087] In system 100, which is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN 120 is as follows), Figure 3In some implementations of 5GC 320, interface 112 may be an Xn interface 112. This Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 connected to 5GC 120 (e.g., two or more next-generation node Bs (gNBs), etc.), between a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) connected to 5GC 120 and an evolved Node B (eNB), and / or between two eNBs connected to 5GC 120. In some implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. Xn-U provides non-guaranteed delivery of user plane protocol data units (PDUs) and supports / provides data forwarding and flow control functions. Xn-C provides management and error handling functions for managing the functionality of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 101 in connected modes (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in connected modes between one or more RAN nodes 111. This mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 111 to the new (destination) serving RAN node 111; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 111 and the new (destination) serving RAN node 111. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer and a user plane GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP-U) layer on top of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and / or IP layers 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 top of the Flow Control Transport Protocol (SCTP). SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and provides 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 as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0088] RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to the core network—in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to the core network (CN) 120. CN 120 may include multiple network elements 122 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 101) connected to CN 120 via RAN 110. Components of CN 120 may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some embodiments, network function virtualization (NFV) may be used to virtualize any or all of the aforementioned 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 120 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 120 may be referred to as a network subslice. NFV architectures 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 (optionally implemented by proprietary hardware). In other words, an NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable concrete implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0089] Generally, application server 130 may be an element that provides IP bearer resources for use with the core network (e.g., Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Packet Service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). Application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for UE 101 via CN 120.

[0090] In some implementations, CN 120 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC 120", etc.), and RAN 110 may be connected to CN 120 via NG interface 113. In some implementations, NG interface 113 may be divided into two parts: NG User Plane (NG-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and UPF; and S1 Control Plane (NG-C) interface 115, which is the signaling interface between RAN node 111 and AMF. Reference Figure 3 CN 120 is an implementation scheme of 5GC 120. This will be discussed in more detail.

[0091] In some implementations, CN 120 may be a 5G CN (referred to as "5GC 120", etc.), while in other implementations, CN 120 may be an EPC. When CN 120 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC 120", etc.), RAN 110 may be connected to CN 120 via S1 interface 113. In some implementations, S1 interface 113 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 115, which is the signaling interface between RAN node 111 and MME. Figure 2 The diagram shows an exemplary architecture in which CN 120 is EPC 120.

[0092] Exemplary Architecture

[0093] Figure 2 An exemplary architecture of a system 200 including a first CN 220 according to various implementations is shown. In this example, the system 200 may implement the LTE standard, wherein CN 220 is corresponding to... Figure 1 CN 120's EPC 220. Additionally, UE 101 can be connected with... Figure 1 The UE 101 is the same as or similar to the E-UTRAN 110, and the E-UTRAN 110 can be the same as the UE 101. Figure 1 The RAN 110 is the same as or similar to the RAN 111 discussed earlier. The CN 220 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MEE) 221, a Serving Gateway (S-GW) 222, a PDN Gateway (P-GW) 223, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 224, and a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 225.

[0094] The MME 221 can functionally resemble the control plane of a traditional SGSN and implements mobility management (MM) functions to keep track of the current location of UE 101. The MME 221 can perform various MM procedures to manage mobility aspects of access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also known as “EPS MM” or “EMM” in E-UTRAN systems) can refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data storage, etc., used to maintain knowledge about the current location of UE 101, provide user / subscriber confidentiality, and / or perform other similar services. Each UE 101 and MME 221 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context can be established in both UE 101 and MME 221 upon successful attachment. The MM context can be a data structure or database object storing MM-related information for UE 101. MME 221 can be coupled to HSS224 via reference point S6a, to SGSN 225 via reference point S3, and to S-GW222 via reference point S11.

[0095] SGSN 225 can be a node that serves UE 101 by tracking the location of individual UE 101 and performing security functions. Furthermore, SGSN 225 can perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; such as PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 221; processing of UE 101 time zone functions as specified by MME 221; and MME selection for handover to the E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between MME 221 and SGSN 225 can enable user and bearer information exchange for 3GPP indirect access network mobility in idle and / or active states.

[0096] HSS224 may include a database for network users, containing subscription-related information to support network entities in handling communication sessions. EPC 220 may include one or more HSS 224s, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, device capacity, network organization, etc. For example, HSS224 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing solutions, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between HSS224 and MME 221 can enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticated / authorized user access to EPC 220 between HSS224 and MME 221.

[0097] The S-GW 222 can terminate the S1 (S1-U) interface to the user plane towards RAN 110 and route data packets between RAN 110 and EPC 220. Additionally, the S-GW 222 can serve as a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handover and also provides 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 222 and MME 221 provides a control plane between MME 221 and S-GW 222. The S-GW 222 can be coupled to the P-GW 223 via the S5 reference point.

[0098] The P-GW 223 can terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN 230. The P-GW 223 can be connected via IP interface 125 (see, for example, Figure 1 The P-GW 223 routes data packets between the EPC 220 and external networks, such as a network including an application server 130 (optionally referred to as "AF"). In some implementations, the P-GW 223 may be located via an IP communication interface 125 (see, for example, ...). Figure 1 Communication is coupled to the application server. Figure 1 Application server 130 or Figure 2 The S5 reference point between P-GW 223 and S-GW 222 provides user plane tunneling and tunnel management between P-GW 223 and S-GW 222. The S5 reference point can also be used for S-GW 222 relocation, depending on the mobility of UE 101 and whether S-GW 222 needs to connect to the non-coordinated P-GW 223 for required PDN connectivity. P-GW 223 may also include nodes for policy enforcement and charging data collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi reference point between P-GW 223 and Packet Data Network (PDN) 230 can be an external public or private PDN or an internal operator packet data network, for example, for providing IMS services. P-GW 223 may be coupled to PCRF 226 via a Gx reference point.

[0099] PCRF 226 is the policy and charging control element of EPC 220. In non-roaming scenarios, a single PCRF 226 may exist in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with the Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE 101. In roaming scenarios with local traffic breaches, two PCRFs may exist associated with the IP-CAN session of UE 101: the domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and the visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). PCRF 226 may be communicatively coupled to application server 230 via P-GW 223. Application server 230 may signal PCRF 226 to indicate new service flows and select appropriate QoS and charging parameters. PCRF 226 may configure the rule to have a PCEF (not shown) with appropriate TFT and QCI, which initiates QoS and charging as specified by application server 230. The Gx reference point between PCRF 226 and P-GW 223 allows QoS policies and charging rules to be transferred from PCRF 226 to PCRF in P-GW 223. The Rx reference point can reside between PDN 230 (or "AF 230") and PCRF 226.

[0100] Figure 3 The architecture of a system 300 including a second CN 320 according to various embodiments is shown. System 300 is shown as including a UE 301, which may be the same as or similar to UE 101 and UE 101 previously discussed; a (R)AN 310, which may be the same as or similar to RAN 110 and RAN 210 previously discussed, and may include RAN node 111 previously discussed; a data network (DN) 303, which may be, for example, operator services, Internet access, or third-party services; and a 5GC 320. The 5GC 320 may include an authentication server function (AUSF) 322; an access and mobility management function (AMF) 321; a session management function (SMF) 324; a network exposure function (NEF) 323; a PCF 326; a network repository function (NRF) 325; a UDM 327; an application function (AF) 328; a user plane function (UPF) 302; and a network slice selection function (NSSF) 329.

[0101] UPF 302 can act as an anchor point for mobility within and between RATs, an external PDU session point interconnected with DN 303, and a branch point supporting multihomed PDU sessions. UPF 302 can also perform packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane portion of policy rules, lawful packet interception (UP collection), traffic usage reporting, QoS processing on the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), uplink traffic authentication (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 302 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to the data network. DN 303 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. DN 303 may include or be similar to the previously discussed application server 130. UPF 302 interacts with SMF 324 via the N4 reference point between SMF 324 and UPF 302.

[0102] AUSF 322 stores data for UE 301 authentication and handles authentication-related functions. AUSF 322 facilitates common authentication frameworks for various access types. AUSF 322 communicates with AMF 321 via the N12 reference point between AMF 321 and AUSF 322; and with UDM 327 via the N13 reference point between UDM 327 and AUSF 322. Additionally, AUSF 322 can present an interface based on Nausf services.

[0103] AMF 321 is responsible for registration management (e.g., registering UE 301, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 321 can be the termination point of the N11 reference point between AMF 321 and SMF 324. AMF 321 provides transport for Session Management (SM) messages between UE 301 and SMF 324 and acts as a transparent pro15 for routing SM messages. AMF 321 can also provide transport for UE 301 and the SMS Function (SMSF) (…). Figure 3The AMF 321 provides transmission of Short Message Service (SMS) messages between (not shown in the diagram). The AMF 321 can act as a Security Anchor Function (SEAF), which may include interaction with the AUSF 322 and UE 301, and reception of an intermediate key established due to the UE 301 authentication process. In the case of authentication using the Universal User Identity Module (UMTS), the AMF 321 may retrieve secure material from the AUSF 322. The AMF 321 may also include a Security Context Management (SCM) function, which receives a key from the SEA for deriving a network-specific key for access. Furthermore, the AMF 321 may be the termination point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be the N2 reference point between (R)AN 310 and the AMF 321; and the AMF 321 may be the termination point of NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0104] AMF 321 can also support NAS signaling with UE 301 via the N3 IWF interface. The N3 IWF can be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3 IWF can be the termination point of the N2 interface between the control plane (R)AN 310 and AMF 321, and can be the termination point of the N3 reference point between the user plane (R)AN 310 and UPF 302. Therefore, AMF 321 processes N2 signaling from SMF 324 and AMF 321 for Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions and QoS, encapsulates / decapsulates packets for IPSec and N3 tunneling, marks N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and performs QoS corresponding to the N3 packet marking, taking into account the QoS requirements associated with such markings received via N2. The N3IWF can also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between UE 301 and AMF 321 via the N1 reference point between UE 301 and AMF 321, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between UE 301 and UPF 302. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing IPsec tunnels using UE 301. AMF 321 can present an interface based on Namf services and can be the N14 reference point between two AMF 321s and between AMF 321 and 5G-EIR (…). Figure 3 The terminus of the N17 reference point (not shown in the image) between the reference points.

[0105] UE 301 may need to register with AMF 321 to receive network services. Registration Management (RM) is used to register UE 301 with or deregister UE 301 with the network (e.g., AMF 321) and to establish a UE context in the network (e.g., AMF 321). UE 301 can operate in either RM-REGISTERED or RM-DEREGISTERED state. In RM-DEREGISTERED state, UE 301 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 321 does not maintain valid location or routing information for UE 301, therefore AMF 321 cannot reach UE 301. In RM-REGISTERED state, UE 301 is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 321 can maintain valid location or routing information for UE 301, therefore AMF 321 can reach UE 301. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 301 can execute mobility registration update procedures, execute periodic registration update procedures triggered by the expiration of periodic update timers (e.g., to notify the network that UE 301 is still active), and execute registration update procedures to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0106] The AMF 321 stores one or more RM contexts for the UE 301, each RM context being associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context can be a data structure, database object, etc., indicating or storing, in particular, the registration status and periodic update timers for each access type. The AMF 321 may also store 5GC mobility management (MM) contexts that are the same as or similar to the previously discussed (E)MM contexts. In various implementations, the AMF 321 stores the CE Mode B restriction parameters of the UE 301 in the associated MM or RM context. The AMF 321 may also derive values ​​from UE usage setting parameters already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when needed.

[0107] Connection Management (CM) establishes and releases signaling connections between UE 301 and AMF 321 via the N1 interface. These signaling connections enable NAS signaling exchange between UE 301 and CN 320, and include signaling connections between the UE and AN (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC) connections for non-3GPP access or UE-N3IWF connections) and N2 connections between the AN (e.g., RAN 310) and AMF 321 for UE 301. UE 301 can operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When UE 301 operates in CM-IDLE state / mode, UE 301 may not have a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling connection established with AMF 321 via the N1 interface, and (R)AN 310 signaling connections (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections) may exist for UE 301. When UE 301 operates in CM-CONNECTED state / mode, UE 301 may have a NAS signaling connection established with AMF 321 via the N1 interface, and may have (R)AN 310 signaling connections (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections) for UE 301. Establishing an N2 connection between (R)AN 310 and AMF 321 can cause UE 301 to transition from CM-IDLE mode to CM-CONNECTED mode, and UE 301 can transition from CM-CONNECTED mode to CM-IDLE mode when the N2 signaling between (R)AN 310 and AMF 321 is released.

[0108] SMF 324 is responsible for Session Management (SM) (e.g., session establishment, modification, and publication, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of User Plane (UP) functions; configuring UPF traffic redirection to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface toward policy control functions; policy enforcement and QoS control portions; lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces with the LI system); terminating the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to the AN via N2 through the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); and determining the Session and Service Continuity (SSC) mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to the PDU connectivity service that provides or enables PDU exchange between UE 301 and data network (DN) 303 identified by the data network name (DNN). A PDU session can be established, modified, and released upon request by UE 301, modified, and released upon request by both UE 301 and 5GC 320, using NAS SM signaling exchanged between UE 301 and SMF 324 via the N1 reference point. Upon request from the application server, 5GC 320 can trigger a specific application in UE 301. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE 301 can pass the trigger message (or relevant portions / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in UE 301. The identified applications in UE 301 can establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF 324 can check whether the UE 301 request matches the user subscription information associated with UE 301. In this regard, SMF 324 can retrieve and / or request to receive update notifications regarding SMF 324 level subscription data from UDM 327.

[0109] The SMF 324 may include the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply QoS SLAs (VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces with the LI system, in the VPLMN); and support for interaction with external DNs to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication via external DNs. In roaming scenarios, an N16 reference point between two SMF 324s may be included in system 300, which may be located between an SMF 324 in the visited network and another SMF 324 in the home network. Additionally, the SMF 324 may present an interface based on Nsmf services.

[0110] The NEF 323 provides means for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions to third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 328), edge computing, or fog computing systems. In such implementations, the NEF 323 can authenticate, authorize, and / or restrict AFs. The NEF 323 can also translate information exchanged with AF 328 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 323 can translate between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. The NEF 323 can also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on their exposure capabilities. This information can be stored as structured data at the NEF 323 or stored at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 323 to other NFs and AFs, and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. Additionally, the NEF 323 can present an interface based on Nnef services.

[0111] The NRF 325 supports service discovery, receiving Network Function (NF) discovery requests from NF instances and providing information about discovered NF instances to those instances. The NRF 325 also maintains information about available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, terms such as "instantiation" can refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" can refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 325 can present an interface based on NnRF services.

[0112] PCF 326 provides control plane functions to enforce their policy rules and also supports a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. PCF 326 can also implement a front-end (FE) to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of UDM 327. PCF 326 communicates with AMF 321 via the N15 reference point between PCF 326 and AMF 321, which may include PCF 326 in the visited network and AMF 321 in roaming scenarios. PCF 326 communicates with AF 328 via the N5 reference point between PCF 326 and AF 328; and communicates with SMF 324 via the N7 reference point between PCF 326 and SMF 324. System 300 and / or CN 320 may also include the N24 reference point between PCF 326 (in the home network) and PCF 326 in the visited network. Additionally, PCF 326 may present an interface based on NPCF services.

[0113] The UDM 327 processes subscription-related information to support network entities in handling communication sessions and stores the subscription data of the UE 301. For example, subscription data can be transmitted between the UDM 327 and the AMF 321 via the N8 reference point between the UDM 327 and the AMF. The UDM 327 may include two parts: the application front-end (FE) and the UDR (User Data Transfer Protocol). Figure 3 (FE and UDR are not shown). The UDR stores subscription and policy data of UDM 327 and PCF 326, and / or structured data for exposure of NEF 323, as well as application data (including PFD for application detection and application request information for multiple UEs 301). The interface based on the Nudr service can be presented by UDR 221 to allow UDM 327, PCF 326, and NEF 323 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as notifications for reading, updating (e.g., adding, modifying), deleting, and subscribing to relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include UDM-FE, which is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. Several different front-ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. The UDR interacts with SMF 324 via the N10 reference point between UDM 327 and SMF 324. The UDM 327 also supports SMS management, with SMS-FE implementing similar application logic as previously discussed. Additionally, the UDM 327 can present an interface based on Nudm services.

[0114] AF 328 provides information about the application's influence on traffic routing, provides access to the NCE, and interacts with the policy framework for policy control. The NCE is a mechanism that allows 5GC 320 and AF 328 to provide information to each other via NEF 323, which can be used in edge computing implementations. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the UE 301 access point to achieve efficient service delivery by reducing end-to-end latency and load on the transport network. For edge computing implementations, 5GC can select UPF 302 near UE 301 and perform traffic redirection from UPF 302 to DN 303 via the N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 328. Thus, AF 328 influences UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 328 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator allows AF 328 to interact directly with the relevant NF. Additionally, AF 328 can present an interface based on NAF services.

[0115] NSSF 329 selects a set of network slice instances to serve UE 301. If necessary, NSSF 329 also determines the allowed network slice selection assistance information (NSSAI) and its mapping to the subscribed individual NSSAI (S-NSSAI). NSSF 329 also determines, based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying NRF 325, a set of Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs) or a list of candidate AMFs 321 to be used to serve UE 301. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE 301 can be triggered by AMF 321, where UE 301 registers through interaction with NSSF 329, which can result in a change to AMF 321. NSSF 329 interacts with AMF 321 via the N22 reference point between AMF 321 and NSSF 329; and via the N31 reference point (…). Figure 3 (Not shown) communicates with another NSSF 329 in the visited network. Additionally, the NSSF 329 can present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0116] As previously discussed, CN 320 may include an SMS function (SMSF) that is responsible for checking and verifying Short Message Service (SMS) subscriptions and relaying SM messages to / from UE 301 to / from other entities, such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers. SMS also interacts with AMF 321 and UDM 327 for notification procedures indicating that UE 301 is available for SMS delivery (e.g., setting a UE unreachable flag and notifying UDM 327 when UE 301 is available for SMS).

[0117] CN 320 may also include Figure 3 Other elements not shown include data storage systems / architecture, 5G Equipment Identity Register (EIR), Secure Edge Protection Pro15 (SEPP), etc. Data storage systems may include Structured Data Storage Function (SDSF), Unstructured Data Storage Network Function (UDSF), etc. Any network function (NF) is transmitted via any NF and UDSF ( Figure 3 The N18 reference points (not shown in the diagram) store unstructured data in or retrieve it from the UDSF (e.g., UE context). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing their respective unstructured data, or each NF may have its own UDSF located at or near the individual NF. Additionally, the UDSF may present an interface based on the Nudsf service (…). Figure 3(Not shown in the image). 5G-EIR can be NF, which checks the status of PEI to determine whether to blacklist a specific piece of equipment / entity from the network; and SEPP can be a non-transparent pro15, which performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the control plane interface between Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs).

[0118] Furthermore, there can be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between NF services; however, for clarity, Figure 3 These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one example, CN 320 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 1 121) and AMF 321 to enable interoperability between CN 320 and CN 1 120. Other exemplary interfaces / reference points may include an interface based on N5g-EIR services presented by 5G-EIR, reference point N27 between the NF Repository Function (NRF) in the visited network and the NRF in the home network; and reference point N31 between the Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) in the visited network and the NSSF in the home network.

[0119] Exemplary infrastructure equipment

[0120] Figure 4 Examples of infrastructure equipment 400 according to various implementation schemes are illustrated. Infrastructure equipment 400 (or "system 400") may be implemented as a base station, a radio head unit, a RAN node (such as RAN node 111 and / or AP 106 previously shown and described), an application server 130, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, system 400 may be implemented in or by a UE.

[0121] System 400 includes: application circuitry 405, baseband circuitry 410, one or more radio front-end modules (RFEMs) 415, memory circuitry 420, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 425, power tee circuitry 430, network controller circuitry 435, network interface connector 440, satellite positioning circuitry 445, and user interface 450. In some embodiments, device 400 may include additional components such as, for example, memory / storage devices, displays, cameras, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, these components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuitry may be individually included in more than one device for cloud radio access networks (CRAN), vBBU, or other similar implementations.

[0122] Application circuit 405 includes, but is not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more low-dropout regulators (LDOs), an interrupt controller, and a serial interface such as SPI, I 2 The application circuit 405 may include a C or general-purpose programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, general-purpose input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a Secure Digital (SD) Multimedia Card (MMC) or similar, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interface, and a Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 405 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory or storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 400. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element may be on-chip memory circuitry, which 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.

[0123] The processor of application circuit 405 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPU), 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, application circuit 405 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operation according to the various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of application circuit 405 may include one or more Intel processors. or Processor; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or Processors; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium™, Inc. MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some implementations, system 400 may not utilize application circuitry 405 and may instead include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received from, for example, an EPC or 5GC.

[0124] In some implementations, application circuitry 405 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, etc. These hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, programmable processing devices may be one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs), such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and so on. In such specific implementations, the circuitry of application circuitry 405 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, and other interconnect resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as processes, methods, functions, etc., as discussed in the various implementations herein. In such implementations, the circuitry of application circuit 405 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), fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in lookup tables (LUTs).

[0125] The baseband circuit 410 can be implemented, for example, as a solderable substrate comprising one or more integrated circuits, a single-package integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Reference will be made below. Figure 6 This paper discusses the various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuit 410.

[0126] User interface circuitry 450 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with system 400, or peripheral interface designed to enable peripheral components to interact with system 400. User interfaces may include, but are 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 touchpad, a touchscreen, a speaker or other audio transmitter, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, headphones, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral 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.

[0127] The radio front-end module (RFEM) 415 may include a millimeter-wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some embodiments, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physically decoupled from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connectors to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example, below). Figure 6 The antenna array 611) and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, the radio functions of both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 415 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

[0128] The memory circuitry 420 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (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., and may be combined with... and A three-dimensional (3D) XPOINT memory. The memory circuit 420 can be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in packaged integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and an insert memory card.

[0129] The PMIC 425 may include a voltage regulator, surge protector, power alarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources, such as batteries or capacitors. The power alarm detection circuitry can detect one or more of a power outage (undervoltage) and a power surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 430 provides power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity to the infrastructure equipment 400 using a single cable.

[0130] Network controller circuitry 435 uses standard network interface protocols, such as Ethernet, GRE-tunneled Ethernet, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based Ethernet, or some other suitable protocol, to provide connectivity to the network. Network connectivity can be provided to / from infrastructure equipment 400 via a physical connection via network interface connector 440; this physical connection can be an electrical connection (typically referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. Network controller circuitry 435 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some embodiments, network controller circuitry 435 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0131] Positioning circuit 445 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by a positioning network of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's 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.). Positioning circuit 445 includes various hardware components (e.g., 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, positioning circuit 445 may include a micro-technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing, which performs position tracking / estimation using a master timing clock in the absence of GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 445 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 410 and / or RFEM 415 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 445 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 405, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures, such as RAN node 111.

[0132] Figure 4 The components shown communicate with each other using interface circuitry, which may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCIx), PCI Express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, for example, used in a System-on-Chip (SoC) based system. Other bus / IX systems, such as I... 2 Interfaces include C-type interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface, and power bus, etc.

[0133] Figure 5 Examples of platform 500 (or “device 500”) according to various embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, computer platform 500 may be adapted to function as UE 101, 201, application server 130 and / or any other element / device discussed herein. Platform 500 may include any combination of the components shown in the examples. Components of platform 500 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof suitable for computer platform 500, or may be implemented as components otherwise integrated within the chassis of a larger system. Figure 5The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of the computer platform 500. 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 specific embodiments.

[0134] Application circuit 505 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces (such as SPI), I / O pins, etc. 2 The system may include one or more of the following: a C or general-purpose programmable serial interface module, an RTC, timers (including interval timers and watchdog timers), general-purpose I / O, a memory card controller (such as an SD MMC or similar controller), a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of application circuitry 505 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory or storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 500. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element may be on-chip memory circuitry, which 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.

[0135] The processor of application circuit 505 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multi-threaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing element, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, application circuit 505 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operation according to various embodiments herein.

[0136] As an example, the processor of application circuit 505 may include a processor based on... Architecture TM processors, such as Quark TM Atom TM i3, i5, i7 or MCU-level processors, or available from Santa Clara, California. Another processor of this type from the company. The processor for the Application Circuit 505 can also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s A5-A9 processors, from 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, application circuitry 505 may be part of a system-on-a-chip (SoC), wherein application circuitry 505 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as those from MIPS Technologies, Inc. company( Edison Corporation TM Or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0137] In addition to or alternatively, application circuitry 505 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs), such as FPGAs; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and so on. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 505 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, and other interconnect resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as processes, methods, functions, etc., as discussed in the various embodiments herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 505 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), fuses, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc., in lookup tables (LUTs), etc.

[0138] The baseband circuit 505 can be implemented, for example, as a solderable substrate comprising one or more integrated circuits, a single-package integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. (Refer to below) Figure 6This paper discusses the various hardware electronic components of the 505 baseband circuit.

[0139] RFEM 515 may include a millimeter-wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some embodiments, the one or more sub-millimeter-wave RFICs may be physically decoupled from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connectors to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example, below). Figure 6 The antenna array 611 is used, and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, the radio functions of both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 515 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

[0140] Memory circuitry 520 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a fixed amount of system memory. For example, memory circuitry 520 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. Memory circuitry 520 may be developed according to designs based on low-power double data rate (LPDDR) (such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc.) as outlined by the Joint Electronic Equipment Committee (JEDEC). The memory circuit 520 may be implemented as one or more of the following: solder-in packaged integrated circuit, single-die package (SDP), dual-die package (DDP), or quad-die package (Q17P), socket memory module, dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including micro DIMM or mini DIMM, and / or soldered to the motherboard via ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 520 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with application circuit 505. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 520 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, in particular, solid-state disk drives (SSDDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), micro HDDs, resistance-changing memory, phase-change memory, holographic memory, or chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 500 may be integrated with... and 3D XPOINT memory.

[0141] The removable storage circuitry 523 may include devices, circuitry, enclosures / housings, ports, or sockets for coupling portable data storage devices to the platform 500. These portable data storage devices can be used for mass storage and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, MicroSD cards, xD picture cards, etc.) as well as USB flash drives, optical discs, external HDDs, etc.

[0142] Platform 500 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to platform 500. External devices connected to platform 500 via this interface circuitry include sensor circuitry 521 and electromechanical components (EMC) 522, as well as a removable memory device coupled to removable memory circuitry 523.

[0143] Sensor circuit 521 includes a device, module, or subsystem designed to detect events or changes in its environment and to transmit information (sensor data) about the detected events to other devices, modules, subsystems, etc. Examples of such sensors include, in particular: inertial measurement units (IMUs) including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and / or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) including triaxial accelerometers, triaxial gyroscopes, and / or magnetometers; level sensors; flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors; barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless aperture devices); light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiation detectors, etc.), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other similar audio capture devices; etc.

[0144] EMC 522 includes devices, modules, or subsystems intended to enable platform 500 to change its state, position, and / or orientation, or to move or control mechanisms or (sub)systems. Additionally, EMC 522 can be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of platform 500 to indicate the current state of EMC 522. EMC 522 includes one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, propellers, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In some embodiments, platform 500 is configured to operate one or more EMC 522s based on one or more captured events and / or instructions or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients.

[0145] In some embodiments, the interface circuit connects platform 500 to positioning circuitry 545. Positioning circuitry 545 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by a GNSS positioning network. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), BeiDou (China), regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS (Japan), DORIS (France), etc.). Positioning circuitry 545 includes various hardware components (e.g., 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, positioning circuitry 545 may include a miniature PNT IC that performs position tracking / estimation using a master timing clock without GNSS assistance. Positioning circuitry 545 may also be part of or interact with baseband circuitry 505 and / or RFEM 515 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 545 can also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 505, which can use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures (e.g., radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, etc.

[0146] In some implementations, the interface circuit connects platform 500 to near-field communication (NFC) circuitry 540. NFC circuitry 540 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards, wherein a magnetic field sensor is used to enable communication between NFC circuitry 540 and NFC-enabled devices (e.g., “NFC contacts”) external to platform 500. NFC circuitry 540 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 NFC circuitry 540 by executing 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 short-range RF signals. The RF signals may power passive NFC tags (e.g., microchips embedded in stickers or wristbands) to transmit stored data to NFC circuitry 540, or initiate data transfer between NFC circuitry 540 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) located near platform 500.

[0147] The driving circuit 546 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 500. The driving circuit 546 may include various drivers that allow other components of the platform 500 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may exist within or be connected to the platform. For example, the driving circuit 546 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device; a touchscreen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touchscreen interface of the platform 500; a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings of sensor circuit 521 and controlling and allowing access to sensor circuit 521; an EMC driver for acquiring actuator position of EMC 522 and / or controlling and allowing access to EMC 522; 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.

[0148] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 525 (also referred to as "power management circuit 525") manages the power supplied to various components of platform 500. Specifically, relative to baseband circuit 505, PMIC 525 controls power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. PMIC 525 is typically included when platform 500 can be powered by battery 530, for example, when the device is included in UE 101, 101.

[0149] In some implementations, the PMIC 525 can be controlled or otherwise integrated into various power-saving mechanisms of the platform 500. For example, if the platform 500 is in the RRC_Connected state, where it remains connected to the RAN node as it anticipates receiving traffic soon, it can enter a state known as Discontinuous Receive (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the platform 500 can power down for short intervals to conserve power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period, the platform 500 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, where the device disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The platform 500 enters a very low-power state and performs paging, where the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then power down again. The platform 500 may not receive data in this state; to receive data, the platform should transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power-saving modes can allow the device to be unable to use the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this period, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will result in significant latency, which is assumed to be acceptable.

[0150] Battery 530 can power platform 500, but in some examples, platform 500 may be mounted in a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to the grid. Battery 530 may 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, battery 530 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0151] In some implementations, battery 530 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in platform 500 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of battery 530. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of battery 530, such as state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of battery 530, to provide fault prediction. The BMS transmits information about battery 530 to application circuitry 505 or other components of platform 500. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that allows application circuitry 505 to directly monitor the voltage of battery 530 or the current from battery 530. Battery parameters may be used to determine actions that platform 500 can perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0152] A power block coupled to the grid or other power source can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 530. In some examples, a wireless power receiver can replace the power block 530 to wirelessly obtain power, for example, via a loop antenna in the computer platform 500. In these examples, wireless battery charging circuitry can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitry chosen may depend on the size of the battery 530 and therefore on the required current. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standards published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Radio Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Radio Power Alliance.

[0153] User interface circuitry 550 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present within or connected to platform 500, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with platform 500 and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with peripheral components of platform 500. User interface circuitry 550 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual device for accepting input, particularly including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual device for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). Output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly 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 touchscreens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), wherein the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc., is generated or produced by the operation of platform 500. Output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio transmitting devices, printers, etc. In some embodiments, sensor circuitry 521 may be used as input device circuitry (e.g., image capture devices, motion capture devices, etc.) and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuitry (e.g., actuators for providing haptic feedback, etc.). In another example, NFC circuitry may be included for reading electronic tags and / or connecting to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and processing device coupled to an antenna element. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, non-volatile memory ports, USB ports, audio jacks, power interfaces, etc.

[0154] Although not shown, components of Platform 500 communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, Time Triggered Protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, for example, used in a SoC-based system. Other bus / IX systems, such as I... 2 Interfaces include C-type interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface, and power bus, etc.

[0155] Exemplary baseband circuits and radio front-end modules

[0156] Figure 6Exemplary components of a baseband circuit 610 and a radio front-end module (RFEM) 615 according to various embodiments are shown. The baseband circuit 610 corresponds to... Figure 4 The baseband circuit 410 and Figure 5 The baseband circuit 505. RFEM 615 corresponds to respectively Figure 4 RFEM 415 and Figure 5 The RFEM 515. As shown in the figure, the RFEM 615 may include at least the radio frequency (RF) circuit 606, the front-end module (FEM) circuit 608, and the antenna array 611 coupled together as shown in the figure.

[0157] Baseband circuit 610 includes circuitry and / or control logic components configured to perform various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via RF circuit 606. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, RF shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of baseband circuit 610 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of baseband circuit 610 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Implementations of modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments. Baseband circuit 610 is configured to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuit 606 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuit 606. Baseband circuit 610 is configured to interact with application circuits 405 / 505 (see [link to application circuit]). Figure 4 and Figure 5 The baseband circuit 610 is connected to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 606. The baseband circuit 610 handles various radio control functions.

[0158] The aforementioned circuitry and / or control logic components of the baseband circuitry 610 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 604A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 604B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 604C, or other baseband processors 604D for other existing, developing, or future generations (e.g., sixth generation (6G)). In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 604A-D may be included in modules stored in memory 604G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 604E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 604A-604D may be provided as hardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in the respective memory cells. In various implementations, memory 604G stores program code for a real-time operating system (RTOS). When executed by CPU 604E (or other baseband processor), this program code enables CPU 604E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources of baseband circuitry 610, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of RTOS may include those developed by… The provided Operating System Embedded (OSE) TM By Mentor Nucleus RTOS provided TM By Mentor Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) is provided by Express. ThreadX provided TM ,Depend on The provided FreeRTOS and REX OS are from OpenKernel (OK). The provided OKL4, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. Furthermore, the baseband circuitry 610 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 604F. The audio DSP 604F includes elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements.

[0159] In some implementations, each processor in processors 604A-604E includes a corresponding memory interface for sending data to / receiving data from memory 604G. Baseband circuitry 610 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuitry / devices, such as interfaces for sending data to / receiving data from memory external to baseband circuitry 610; Figures 6 to 7Application circuit interface for sending / receiving data from application circuit 405 / 505; used for sending data to / receiving data from application circuit; Figure 6 RF circuit 606 is an RF circuit interface for transmitting / receiving data from / from one or more wireless hardware components (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components). Low power components The PMIC 525 has a wireless hardware connection interface for transmitting data to / receiving data from these wireless hardware components; and a power management interface for transmitting or receiving power or control signals to / from the PMIC.

[0160] In an alternative embodiment (which may be combined with the embodiments described above), baseband circuitry 610 includes one or more digital baseband systems coupled to each other and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem via interconnect subsystems. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to a digital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each interconnect subsystem may include a bus system, point-to-point connections, a network-on-chip (NOC) architecture, and / or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSP circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, voice processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry (such as analog-to-digital converter circuitry and digital-to-analog converter circuitry), analog circuitry including one or more amplifiers and filters, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of this disclosure, baseband circuitry 610 may include protocol processing circuitry having one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuitry and / or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., radio front-end module 615).

[0161] although Figure 6Not shown, but in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 610 includes various processing devices (e.g., a "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuitry") for operating one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices for implementing PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, when baseband circuitry 610 and / or RF circuitry 606 are part of millimeter-wave communication circuitry or some other suitable cellular communication circuitry, the protocol processing circuitry can operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities. In the first example, the protocol processing circuitry will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, when baseband circuitry 610 and / or RF circuitry 606 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuitry can operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In the second example, the protocol processing circuitry will operate Wi-Fi MAC and Logical Link Control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 604G) for storing program code and data for operating protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing the program code and performing various operations using the data. The baseband circuitry 610 may also support radio communication using more than one wireless protocol.

[0162] The various hardware components of the baseband circuit 610 discussed herein can be implemented, for example, as a solderable substrate comprising one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single-packaged IC soldered to a main board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one example, components of the baseband circuit 610 may be suitably combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same board. In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 and the RF circuit 606 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or a system-in-package (SiP). In yet another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to the RF circuit 606 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 606). In yet another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 and the application circuits 405 / 505 may be implemented together as a separate SoC mounted to the same board (e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

[0163] In some implementations, baseband circuit 610 provides communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some implementations, baseband circuit 610 supports communication with E-UTRAN or other WMAN, WLAN, WPAN. Implementations in which baseband circuit 610 is configured to support radio communication with more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multimode baseband circuits.

[0164] RF circuit 606 can communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation over a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuit 606 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuit 606 may include a receive signal path that includes circuitry for down-converting the RF signal received from FEM circuit 608 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 610. RF circuit 606 may also include a transmit signal path that includes circuitry for up-converting the baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 610 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 608.

[0165] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuit 606 may include mixer circuit 606A, amplifier circuit 606B, and filter circuit 606C. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuit 606 may include filter circuit 606C and mixer circuit 606A. RF circuit 606 may also include synthesizer circuit 606D for synthesizing frequencies used by mixer circuit 606A for both the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 606A for the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from FEM circuit 608 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 606D. Amplifier circuit 606B may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 606C may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or 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 baseband circuit 610 for further processing. In some implementations, although not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal. In some implementations, the mixer circuit 606A in the receiving signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect.

[0166] In some implementations, the mixer circuit 606A of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 606D to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 608. The baseband signal can be provided by the baseband circuit 610 and can be filtered by the filter circuit 606C.

[0167] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606A for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and quadrature upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606A for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image suppression (e.g., Hartley image suppression). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606A for the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606A for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606A for the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0168] 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 606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuit 610 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with RF circuit 606.

[0169] In some dual-mode implementations, separate radio IC circuits can be provided to process signals for each spectrum, but the scope of the implementation is not limited in this respect.

[0170] In some implementations, synthesizer circuit 606D may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of implementations is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 606D may be a Δ-∑ synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0171] Synthesizer circuit 606D can be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a divider control input for use by mixer circuit 606A of RF circuit 606. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 606D may be a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0172] In some implementations, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not mandatory. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 610 or the application circuits 405 / 505 according to the desired output frequency. In some implementations, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application circuits 405 / 505.

[0173] The synthesizer circuit 606D of the RF circuit 606 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 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 carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable set of delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay elements 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. Thus, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0174] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 606D may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and frequency divider circuitry to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry 606 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0175] FEM circuit 608 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antenna array 611, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuit 606 for further processing. FEM circuit 608 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuit 606 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 611. In various embodiments, amplification via the transmit or receive signal path may be performed only in RF circuit 606, only in FEM circuit 608, or in both RF circuit 606 and FEM circuit 608.

[0176] In some embodiments, FEM circuit 608 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit and receive mode operation. FEM circuit 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuit 608 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to RF circuit 606). The transmit signal path of FEM circuit 608 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuit 606), and one or more filters for generating the RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of antenna array 611.

[0177] Antenna array 611 includes one or more antenna elements, each configured to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and to convert received radio waves back into electrical signals. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 610 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which can be amplified and transmitted via the antenna elements of antenna array 611, which includes one or more antenna elements (not shown). Antenna elements can be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. Antenna elements can be arranged in various configurations as known and / or discussed herein. Antenna array 611 may include microstrip antennas or printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. Antenna array 611 may be formed as a patch of metal foil of various shapes (e.g., a patch antenna) and may be coupled to RF circuit 606 and / or FEM circuit 608 using metal transmit lines, etc.

[0178] Exemplary protocol functions that can be implemented in wireless communication devices

[0179] The processors of application circuitry 405 / 505 and baseband circuitry 610 are elements that can be used to execute one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuitry 610 can be used alone or in combination to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of application circuitry 405 / 505 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., Transport Communication Protocol (TCP) layer and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layer). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include the Media Access Control (MAC) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0180] Figure 7Various protocol functions that can be implemented in wireless communication devices according to various implementation schemes are illustrated. Specifically, Figure 7 This includes an arrangement 700 illustrating the interconnections between various protocol layers / entities. It provides various protocol layers / entities operating in conjunction with 5G / NR system standards and LTE system standards. Figure 7 The following description, but Figure 7 Some or all of these aspects may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0181] In addition to other higher-layer functions not shown, the protocol layers of arrangement 700 may also include one or more of PHY 710, MAC 720, RLC 730, PDCP 740, SDAP 747, RRC 755, and NAS layer 757. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., providing communication between two or more protocol layers) that provide communication between them. Figure 7 Items 759, 756, 1550, 749, 745, 735, 725, and 715.

[0182] The PHY 710 transmits and receives physical layer signals 710, which can be received from or transmitted to one or more other communication devices. The PHY 710 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 710 may also perform link adaptive or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC 755). The PHY 710 may further perform error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of transport channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. In some embodiments, instances of the PHY 710 may process requests from instances of the MAC 720 and provide indications to them via one or more PHY-SAP 715s. According to some embodiments, requests and indications transmitted via the PHY-SAP 715 may include one or more transport channels.

[0183] MAC 720 instances process requests from RLC 730 instances and provide instructions to them via one or more MAC-SAP 725s. These requests and instructions transmitted via MAC-SAP 725s may include one or more logical channels. MAC 720 can perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto a TB to be delivered to PHY 710 via a transport channel, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from a TB delivered from PHY 710 via a transport channel onto one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0184] Instances of the RLC 730 process requests from instances of the PDCP 740 and provide them with instructions via one or more Radio Link Control Service Access Points (RLC-SAP) 735s. These requests and instructions transmitted via the RLC-SAP 735 may include one or more logical channels. The RLC 730 can operate in several modes, including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 730 can perform transmission of Upper Layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs), error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. The RLC 730 can also re-segment 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.

[0185] Instances of PDCP 740 process requests from instances of RRC 755 and / or SDAP 747 via one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Access Points (PDCP-SAP-SAP) 745 and provide them with instructions. These requests and instructions transmitted via PDCP-SAP 745 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 740 can perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform sequential delivery of upper-layer PDUs during lower-layer re-establishment, eliminate duplication of lower-layer SDUs during lower-layer re-establishment for radio bearers mapped on RLCAM, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discarding, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0186] An instance of SDAP 747 processes requests from one or more higher-layer protocol entities and provides them with indications via one or more SDAP-SAP 749s. These requests and indications transmitted via SDAP-SAP 749s may include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 747s can map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and can also tag QFIs in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 747 can be configured for a single PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 110 can control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflective mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, UE 101's SDAP 747 can monitor the QFI of DL packets for each DRB and can apply the same mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For DRBs, UE 101's SDAP 747 can map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow that corresponds to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of that DRB. To implement reflection mapping, the NG-RAN 310 can tag DL packets with QoS flow IDs via the Uu interface. Explicit mapping may involve the RRC 755 configuring the SDAP 747 with explicit mapping rules from QoS flows to the DRB; these rules can be stored and followed by the SDAP 747. In some implementations, the SDAP 747 may be used only in NR-specific implementations and may not be used in LTE-specific implementations.

[0187] The RRC 755 configures aspects of one or more protocol layers via one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs), which may include one or more instances of PHY 710, MAC 720, RLC 730, PDCP 740, and SDAP 747. In some implementations, instances of the RRC 755 may process requests from one or more NAS entities 757 and provide them with instructions via one or more RRC-SAPs 756. The main services and functions of the RRC 755 may include broadcasting system information (e.g., included in NAS-related MIBs or SIBs), broadcasting system information related to the Access Layer (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of RRC connections between UE 101 and RAN 110 (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.

[0188] The NAS 757 forms the highest layer of the control plane between UE 101 and AMF 321. The NAS 757 supports the mobility and session management procedures of UE 101 to establish and maintain the IP connection between UE 101 and P-GW in the LTE system.

[0189] According to various implementation schemes, one or more protocol entities of deployment 700 may be implemented in UE 101, RAN node 111, AMF 321 in the NR implementation or MME 221 in the LTE implementation, UPF 302 in the NR implementation or S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 in the LTE implementation, etc., for use in the control plane or user plane communication protocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In such implementation schemes, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of UE 101, gNB 111, AMF 321, etc., can communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented in another device or on another device (using the services of the corresponding lower-level protocol entity to perform such communication). In some implementations, the gNB-CU of gNB 111 may host the RRC 755, SDAP 747, and PDCP 740 of gNB 111 that control one or more gNB-DU operations, and the gNB-DU of gNB 111 may each host the RLC 730, MAC 720, and PHY 710 of gNB 111.

[0190] In the first example, the control plane protocol stack may include NAS 757, RRC755, PDCP 740, RLC 730, MAC 720, and PHY 710 in order from the highest to the lowest layer. In this example, the upper layer 760 may be built on top of NAS 757, which includes IP layer 761, SCTP 762, and application layer signaling protocol (AP) 763.

[0191] In a specific NR implementation, AP 763 may be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 763 for an NG interface 113 that is limited between NG-RAN nodes 111 and AMF 321, or AP 763 may be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 763 for an Xn interface 112 that is limited between two or more RAN nodes 111.

[0192] NG-AP 763 supports the functionality of NG interface 113 and may include an initial procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP may be the interaction unit between NG-RAN node 111 and AMF 321. NG-AP 763 services may include two groups: UE-related services (e.g., services related to UE 101) and non-UE-related services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between NG-RAN node 111 and AMF 321). These services may include, but are not limited to: paging functions for sending paging requests to NG-RAN node 111 involved in a specific paging area; UE context management functions for allowing AMF 321 to establish, modify, and / or release UE contexts in AMF 321 and NG-RAN node 111; mobility functions for UE 101 in ECM-CONNECTED mode, for intra-system HO support of mobility within NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO support of mobility from / to EPS systems; NAS signaling transmission functions for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 101 and AMF 321; NAS node selection functions for determining the association between AMF 321 and UE 101; NG interface management functions for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; warning message transmission functions for providing means of transmitting warning messages or canceling ongoing warning message broadcasts via the NG interface; and functions for transmitting warning messages via CN. 120 has the configuration transfer function for requesting and transferring RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 111; and / or other similar functions.

[0193] XnAP 763 supports the functions of Xn interface 112 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. XnAP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within NG RAN 111 (or E-UTRAN 110), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transmission procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, and procedures related to dual connectivity. XnAP global procedures may include procedures independent of a specific UE 101, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, and cell activation procedures.

[0194] In a specific LTE implementation, AP 763 can be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 763 for an S1 interface 113 that is limited between E-UTRAN node 111 and MME, or AP 763 can be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 763 for an X2 interface 112 that is limited between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 111.

[0195] The S1 Application Protocol Layer (S1-AP) 763 supports the functionality of the S1 interface and, similar to the previously discussed NG-AP, may include an S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP can be the interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 111 and the MME 221 within the LTE CN 120. S1-AP 763 services may include two sets: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. These services perform functions including, but 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.

[0196] X2AP 763 supports the functions of X2 interface 112 and may include X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. X2AP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within E-UTRAN 120, such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transmission procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, and procedures related to dual connectivity. X2AP global procedures may include procedures independent of a specific UE 101, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indication procedures, error indication procedures, and cell activation procedures.

[0197] The SCTP layer (optionally referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 762 provides guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). SCTP 762 may, in part, rely on the IP protocol supported by IP 761 to ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between RAN node 111 and AMF 321 / MME 221. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 761 may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, IP layer 761 may use point-to-point transmission to deliver and transmit PDUs. In this regard, RAN node 111 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0198] In the second example, the user plane protocol stack may include SDAP 747, PDCP 740, RLC 730, MAC 720, and PHY 710 in order from the highest to the lowest layer. The user plane protocol stack can be used for communication between UE 101, RAN node 111, and UPF 302 in an NR implementation, or between S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 in an LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 751 may be built on top of SDAP 747 and may include User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IP Security Layer (UDP / IP) 752, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for User Plane Layer (GTP-U) 753, and User Plane PDU Layer (UP PDU) 763.

[0199] The transport network layer 754 (also known as the "transport layer") can be built on top of IP transport, and the GTP-U 753 can be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 752 (which includes the UDP and IP layers) to carry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also known as the "Internet layer") can be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer can assign IP addresses to user data packets in any of the formats, such as IPv4, IPv6, or PPP.

[0200] The GTP-U 753 is 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 can be packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. The UDP / IP 752 provides checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication for selected data streams. RAN node 111 and S-GW 222 can exchange user plane data using the S1-U interface via a protocol stack including L1 layer (e.g., PHY 710), L2 layer (e.g., MAC 720, RLC 730, PDCP 740, and / or SDAP 747), UDP / IP layer 752, and GTP-U 753. S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 can exchange user plane data using the S5 / S8a interface via a protocol stack including L1 layer, L2 layer, UDP / IP layer 752, and GTP-U 753. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol supports the mobility and session management process of UE 101 to establish and maintain the IP connection between UE 101 and P-GW 223.

[0201] Furthermore, despite Figure 7Not shown, but the application layer may exist above AP 763 and / or transport network layer 754. The application layer may be a layer where users of UE 101, RAN node 111, or other network elements interact with software applications, such as those executed by application circuitry 405 or 505, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for software applications to interact with the communication systems of UE 101 or RAN node 111, such as baseband circuitry 610. In some embodiments, the IP layer and / or application layer provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5 through 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).

[0202] Figure 8 Components of a core network according to various embodiments are illustrated. Components of CN 220 may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some embodiments, components of CN 320 can be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to components of CN 220. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the aforementioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 220 may be referred to as network slice 801, and each logical instance of CN 220 provides specific network functions and network characteristics. A logical instance of a portion of CN 220 may be referred to as network subslice 802 (e.g., network subslice 802 is shown as including P-GW 223 and PCRF 226).

[0203] As used herein, the term "instantiation" can refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" can refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance can refer to information identifying a domain that can be used for service detection and routing in cases of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance can refer to a set of network function (NF) instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networking resources) required to deploy a network slice.

[0204] Regarding 5G systems (see, for example, above) Figure 3Network slicing always comprises both the Radio Access Network (RAN) and the Core Network (CN). Support for network slicing relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions. The network can implement different network slices through scheduling and also by providing different L1 / L2 configurations. If the NAS has provided an RRC message, UE 301 provides auxiliary information for network slice selection in the appropriate Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. While the network can support a large number of slices, the UE does not need to support more than eight slices simultaneously.

[0205] Network slices may include CN 320 control plane and user plane network functions (NF), Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) 310 in the serving PLMN, and N3IWF functions in the serving PLMN. Each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI and / or a different SST. An NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by its S-NSSAI. Network slices may differ for supported features and network function optimizations, and / or multiple network slice instances may deliver the same services / features but differ for different groups of UEs 301 (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 different S-NSSAIs with the same SST but different slice differentiators. Additionally, a single UE may be served simultaneously by one or more network slice instances via 5G AN and associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. Furthermore, the AMF 321 instance serving a single UE 301 may belong to each network slice instance serving that UE.

[0206] Network slicing in NG-RAN 310 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes the differentiation processing of traffic for different pre-configured network slices. Slice awareness in NG-RAN 310 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 310 supports slicing in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., a set of network functions per slice) depends on the specific implementation. NG-RAN 310 uses auxiliary information provided by UE 301 or 5GC 320 to select the RAN portion of a network slice, which explicitly identifies one or more pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. NG-RAN 310 also supports resource management and policy enforcement across slices according to SLAs. A single NG-RAN node supports multiple slices, and NG-RAN 310 can also apply appropriate RRM policies for the appropriate SLAs to each supported slice. NG-RAN 310 also supports QoS differentiation within slices.

[0207] NG-RAN 310 may also select AMF 321 during initial attachment using UE assistance information (if available). NG-RAN 310 uses the assistance information to route the initial NAS to AMF 321. If NG-RAN 310 cannot select AMF 321 using the assistance information, or if UE 301 does not provide any such information, NG-RAN 310 sends NAS signaling to the default AMF 321, which may be in the AMF 321 pool. For subsequent access, UE 301 provides a temporary ID assigned to UE 301 by 5GC 320 to enable NG-RAN 310 to route NAS messages to the appropriate AMF 321, provided that temporary ID is valid. NG-RAN 310 knows and can reach the AMF 321 associated with the temporary ID. Otherwise, the method used for initial attachment is applied.

[0208] NG-RAN 310 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 310 resource isolation can be achieved through RRM policies and protection mechanisms, which prevent shared resource shortages when one slice interrupts the service level protocol of another slice. In some implementations, NG-RAN 310 resources can be fully assigned to a specific slice. How NG-RAN 310 supports resource isolation depends on the specific implementation.

[0209] Some slices may only be partially available in the network. NG-RAN 310 is aware that slices supported in its neighboring cells may be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Slice availability may remain unchanged within the UE's registered area. NG-RAN 310 and 5GC 320 are responsible for processing 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 that slice, resource availability, and NG-RAN 310 support for the requested service.

[0210] UE 301 can be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. When UE 301 is associated with multiple slices, only one signaling connection is maintained, and for intra-frequency cell reselection, UE 301 attempts to pre-allocate the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, a dedicated priority can be used to control the frequency pre-allocated by UE 301. 5GC 320 will verify that UE 301 has the right to access network slices. Before receiving the Initial Context Setup Request message, NG-RAN 310 may apply some temporary / local policies based on knowing that UE 301 is requesting access to a specific slice. During Initial Context Setup, NG-RAN 310 is notified of the slices requesting its resources.

[0211] Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) architectures and infrastructures can be used to virtualize one or more NFs (optionally implemented by proprietary hardware) onto a physical resource comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, NFV systems can be used to implement virtual or reconfigurable concrete implementations of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0212] Figure 9 This is a block diagram illustrating components of a system 900 for supporting Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) according to some exemplary embodiments. The system 900 is shown as including a Virtualization Infrastructure Manager (VIM) 902, a Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) 904, a Virtualization Network Functions Manager (VNFM) 906, a VNF 908, an Element Manager (EM) 910, a Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) 912, and a Network Manager (NM) 914.

[0213] VIM 902 manages the resources of NFVI 904. NFVI 904 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including hypervisors) used to run System 900. VIM 902 can leverage NFVI 904 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., the creation, maintenance, and teardown of virtual machines (VMs) associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track the performance, failure, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0214] The VNFM 906 manages the VNF 908. The VNF 908 can be used to execute Evolved Packet Core (EPC) components / functions. The VNFM 906 manages the lifecycle of the VNF 908 and tracks the performance, faults, and security of the VNF 908's virtualization aspects. The EM 910 tracks the performance, faults, and security of the VNF 908's functionality aspects. Tracking data from the VNFM 906 and EM 910 may include, for example, PM data used by the VIM 902 or NFVI 904. Both the VNFM 906 and EM 910 can scale the number of VNFs in System 900.

[0215] NFVO 912 can coordinate, authorize, release, and engage the resources of NFVI 904 to provide requested services (e.g., perform EPC functions, components, or slices). NM 914 provides end-user function packages, non-virtualized network functions, or both responsible for the management of the network (which may include network elements with VNFs) (management of VNFs may occur via EM 910).

[0216] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some exemplary embodiments, capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executing any or more methods discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 10 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1000 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1010, one or more memory / storage devices 1020, and one or more communication resources 1030, each of which can be communicatively coupled via bus 1040. For an implementation utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), an executable hypervisor 1002 provides an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslices to utilize hardware resources 1000.

[0217] Processor 1010 may include, for example, processor 1012 and processor 1014. Processor 1010 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.

[0218] The memory / storage device 1020 may include main memory, disk storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1020 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage devices, etc.

[0219] Communication resource 1030 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 1004 or one or more databases 1006 via network 1008. For example, communication resource 1030 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellular communication components, NFC components, etc. (or Low-power components Components and other communication components.

[0220] Instructions 1050 may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1010 to perform any or more of the methods discussed herein. Instructions 1050 may reside wholly or partially within at least one of the processors 1010 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), memory / storage device 1020, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instructions 1050 may be transferred to hardware resource 1000 from any combination of peripheral device 1004 or database 1006. Thus, the memory of processor 1010, memory / storage device 1020, peripheral device 1004, and database 1006 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0221] Exemplary operating method

[0222] Figure 11A first flowchart for performing enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements at high speed, according to some embodiments, is shown. This disclosure is not limited to this operational description. Rather, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other operational control flows are also within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. The following discussion describes an exemplary operational control flow 1100 for high-speed enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements as described above. The exemplary operational control flow 1100 may be executed by one or more of the processors or processor circuits described herein, including those included in application circuitry 405 or 505, baseband circuitry 410 or 510, and / or processor 1014.

[0223] At operation 1102, operation control flow 1100 may receive or cause the reception of high-speed configuration information. In some embodiments, the UE or its components, such as baseband circuitry, may receive high-speed configuration information in a configuration message from the access node. In some embodiments, the configuration message may be an RRC message.

[0224] At operation 1104, operation control flow 1100 may perform or cause to perform carrier aggregation (CA) measurements based on high-speed configuration information. In some embodiments, CA operations may include performing UE measurements using cell identification delay and measurement period determined based on parameters within the high-speed configuration information. In some embodiments, the measurement results may be fed back to the access node. Alternatively or otherwise, the UE may perform certain actions regarding the cell based on the measurement results, which form the basis of the measurements.

[0225] Figure 12 A second flowchart illustrating a method for performing enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements at high speeds, according to some embodiments, is shown. This disclosure is not limited to this operational description. Rather, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other operational control flows are also within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. The following discussion describes an exemplary operational control flow 1200 for enhanced carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements at high speeds as described above. The exemplary operational control flow 1200 may be executed by one or more of the processors or processor circuits described herein, including those included in application circuitry 405 or 505, baseband circuitry 410 or 510, and / or processor 1014.

[0226] At operation 1202, operation control flow 1200 can receive a configuration message with configuration information from the access node.

[0227] At operation 1204, operation control flow 1200 can determine the measurement period and cell identifier delay of the secondary cell (SCell) based on configuration information;

[0228] At operation 1206, operation control flow 1200 can identify a new detectable cell on the secondary component carrier (SCC) as an Scell ​​within the cell identification delay.

[0229] At operation 1208, operation control flow 1200 can perform CA operation measurements within the measurement cycle.

[0230] At operation 1210, operation control flow 1200 can report measurements to the access node.

[0231] Exemplary Implementation

[0232] The exemplary embodiments described herein are illustrative rather than exhaustive. These exemplary embodiments are not intended to be limiting.

[0233] Some implementations may include a method. This method includes determining that a highSpeedEnhancedMeasFlag is configured; and based on this determination, applying enhanced measurement requirements to measurements of all secondary component carriers with active SCells.

[0234] Some implementations may include a method. This method includes using or configuring new candidate values ​​for MeasCycleSCell.

[0235] Some implementations may include a method that reduces the cell identification delay of a new detectable cell on a secondary component carrier from 20*MeasCycleSCell to X1*MeasCycleSCell without using public DRX.

[0236] Some implementations may include a method that includes reducing the measurement cycle of deactivated SCell measurements from 5*MeasCycleSCell to X2*MeasCycleSCell when not using a public DRX.

[0237] Some implementations may include a method. This method includes, when using public DRX, delaying the cell identifier of the new detectable cell on the secondary component carrier from max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T) identify_scc1 Decrease to max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T) identify_scc_hs ), where T identify_scc_hs Shorter than T identify_scc1 .

[0238] Some implementations may include a method. This method includes, when not using a public DRX, reducing the measurement cycle of the deactivated SCell measurement from max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T) measure_scc1 Decrease to max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T) measure_scc1_hs ), where T measure_scc1_hs Shorter than T measure_scc1 .

[0239] Some implementations may include a method. This method includes configuring the UE with a high-speed enhanced measurement flag.

[0240] In these implementations, configuration may include: generating a message that includes configuration information; and causing the message to be transmitted to the UE.

[0241] Some implementations may include a method. This method includes receiving high-speed configuration information; and performing measurements for carrier aggregation operations based on the high-speed configuration information.

[0242] In these implementations, the method may further include generating a message based on the measurement and transmitting the message to the access node, wherein the message optionally includes an indication of the measurement result.

[0243] In these implementations, high-speed configuration information may include instructions for configuring high-speed enhanced measurement flags.

[0244] In these implementations, the method may also include using enhanced measurement requirements based on a configuration of high-speed enhanced measurement flags to measure secondary component carriers.

[0245] In these implementations, the configuration information may include the measurement period Scell ​​parameter, which indicates a value of less than 160 subframes.

[0246] In these implementations, the value can be 40 subframes or 80 subframes.

[0247] In these implementations, the configuration information may include an indication of a factor having a value less than 20. In these implementations, the method may also include determining a cell identification delay equal to the factor multiplied by the measurement period Scell ​​parameter.

[0248] In these implementations, the value of the factor can be 12, 15, or 18.

[0249] In these embodiments, the configuration information may include an indication of a factor having a value less than five. In these embodiments, the method may also include determining the measurement period of the deactivated Scell, wherein the measurement period is equal to the factor multiplied by the measurement period Scell ​​parameter.

[0250] In these implementations, the method may further include performing CA operations based on the cell identifier delay of the detectable cell on the secondary component carrier, wherein the cell identifier delay is max(20*measCycleScell,T) identify_hs ), where T identify_hs Shorter than T identify_scc1 .

[0251] Some embodiments may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the methods described or associated with any of the above embodiments or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0252] Some embodiments 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 the methods or processes described or associated with any of the above embodiments or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0253] Some implementations may include an apparatus comprising one or more elements for performing the methods described or associated with any of the above implementations or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0254] Some implementation schemes may include methods, techniques or processes, or parts or components thereof, as described or associated with any of the above implementation schemes.

[0255] Some embodiments may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process or part thereof as described or associated with any of the above embodiments.

[0256] Some implementations may include signals or portions or components thereof as described or associated with any of the above implementations.

[0257] Some implementations may include signals in wireless networks as shown and described herein.

[0258] Some implementations may include methods for communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0259] Some implementations may include systems for providing wireless communication, as shown and described herein.

[0260] Some implementations may include devices for providing wireless communication, as shown and described herein.

[0261] Some implementations may include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more of the methods described above in conjunction with the above implementations.

[0262] Some implementations may include an apparatus comprising circuitry configured to perform one or more of the methods described above in conjunction with the above implementations.

[0263] Some implementations may include a device according to any of the above implementations, wherein the device or any part thereof is implemented in or by the user equipment (UE).

[0264] Some implementation schemes may include a method according to any of the above implementation schemes, wherein the method or any part thereof is implemented in or by the user equipment (UE).

[0265] Some implementations may include apparatus according to any of the above implementations, wherein the apparatus or any part thereof is implemented in or by a base station (BS).

[0266] Some implementation schemes may include a method according to any of the above implementation schemes, wherein the method or any part thereof is implemented in or by a base station (BS).

[0267] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments.

[0268] abbreviation

[0269] For the purposes of this disclosure, the following abbreviations may be used in the examples and implementations discussed herein, but are not intended to be limiting.

[0270] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0271] 4G fourth generation

[0272] 5G (Fifth Generation)

[0273] 5GC 5G Core Network

[0274] ACK confirmation

[0275] AF Application Functions

[0276] AM Confirmation Mode

[0277] AMBR Aggregated Maximum Bit Rate

[0278] AMF Access and Mobility Management Functions

[0279] AN access network

[0280] Automatic Neighbor Relations (ANR)

[0281] AP application protocol, antenna port, access point

[0282] API (Application Programming Interface)

[0283] APN (Access Point Name)

[0284] ARP allocation reservation priority

[0285] ARQ Automatic Retransmission Request

[0286] AS Access Layer

[0287] ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Markup

[0288] AUSF Authentication Server Functionality

[0289] AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

[0290] BCH Broadcast Channel

[0291] BER (Bit Error Rate)

[0292] BFD Beam Fault Detection

[0293] BLER block error rate

[0294] BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying)

[0295] BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server

[0296] BSS Business Support System

[0297] BS base station

[0298] BSR Buffer Status Report

[0299] BW bandwidth

[0300] BWP bandwidth portion

[0301] C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0302] CA carrier aggregation, authentication authority

[0303] CAPEX (Capital Expenditure)

[0304] CBRA (Contest-Based Random Access)

[0305] CC component carrier, country code, encryption checksum

[0306] CCA Idle Channel Assessment

[0307] CCE Control Channel Element

[0308] CCCH Common Control Channel

[0309] CE coverage enhancement

[0310] CDM Content Delivery Network

[0311] CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

[0312] CFRA (Contentless Random Access)

[0313] CG Community Group

[0314] CI Community Signage

[0315] CID (Cell ID, e.g., location method)

[0316] CIM (Common Information Model)

[0317] CIR carrier interference ratio

[0318] CK cryptographic key

[0319] CM connection management, conditionally mandatory.

[0320] CMAS Business Mobile Alert Service

[0321] CMD command

[0322] CMS Cloud Management System

[0323] CO (Optional)

[0324] CoMP Coordinated Multipoint

[0325] CORESET Control Resource Set

[0326] COTS Commercial Spot

[0327] CP control plane, cyclic prefix, and connection point

[0328] CPD Connection Point Descriptor

[0329] CPE User Terminal Equipment

[0330] CPICH Common Pilot Channel

[0331] CQI Channel Quality Indicator

[0332] CPU CSI processing unit, Central Processing Unit

[0333] C / R command / response field bits

[0334] CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN

[0335] CRB Public Resource Block

[0336] CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0337] CRI Channel State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource Indicator

[0338] C-RNTI Community RNTI

[0339] CS circuit switching

[0340] CSAR Cloud Service Archive

[0341] CSI Channel State Information

[0342] CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement

[0343] CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal

[0344] CSI-RSRP CSI Reference Signal Received Power

[0345] CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal reception quality

[0346] CSI-SINR: CSI signal versus interference plus noise ratio

[0347] CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)

[0348] CSMA / CA with collision avoidance CSMA

[0349] CSS public search space, community-specific search space

[0350] CTS Clear Send

[0351] CW coding

[0352] CWS Competition Window Size

[0353] D2D device to device

[0354] DC dual connection, direct current

[0355] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0356] DF Deployment Preferences

[0357] DL downlink

[0358] DMTF Distributed Management Task Group

[0359] DPDK Data Plane Development Kit

[0360] DM-RS, DMRS demodulation reference signal

[0361] DN Data Network

[0362] DRB Data Radio Bearer

[0363] DRS detects reference signal

[0364] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0365] Language-specific digital subscriber lines in the DSL field

[0366] DSLAM (DSL Access Multiplexer)

[0367] DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot

[0368] E-LAN ​​Ethernet LAN

[0369] E2E end-to-end

[0370] ECCA extended idle channel assessment, extended CCA

[0371] ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE

[0372] ED energy detection

[0373] EDGE enhances data rates as part of GSM evolution.

[0374] EGMF exposes governance management functions

[0375] EGPRS Enhanced GPRS

[0376] EIR Equipment Identity Register

[0377] eLAA Enhanced License Assisted Access, Enhancing LAA

[0378] EM Element Manager

[0379] eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

[0380] EMS Element Management System

[0381] eNB Evolved Node B, E-UTRAN Node B

[0382] EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connection

[0383] EPC Evolution Group Core

[0384] EPDCCH (Enhanced PDCCH, Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel)

[0385] EPRE (Energy Per Resource Element)

[0386] EPS Evolution Grouping System

[0387] EREG (Enhanced REG, Enhanced Resource Element Group)

[0388] ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)

[0389] ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System

[0390] eUICC, Embedded UICC, Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0391] E-UTRA Evolution UTRA

[0392] E-UTRAN Evolution UTRAN

[0393] EV2X Enhanced V2X

[0394] F1AP F1 Application Protocol

[0395] F1-C F1 Control Plane Interface

[0396] F1-U F1 User Plane Interface

[0397] FACCH (Fast Association Control Channel)

[0398] FACCH / F Fast Association Control Channel / Full Rate

[0399] FACCH / H Fast Association Control Channel / Half Rate

[0400] FACH Forward Access Channel

[0401] FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signaling Channel

[0402] FB Function Block

[0403] FBI feedback information

[0404] FCC Federal Communications Commission

[0405] FCCH Frequency Correction Channel

[0406] FDD (Frequency Division Duplex)

[0407] FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing)

[0408] FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access)

[0409] FE front end

[0410] FEC Forward Error Correction

[0411] FFS is used for further research.

[0412] FFT (Fast Fourier Transform)

[0413] feLAA (Further Enhanced License for Assisted Access)

[0414] FN Frame Number

[0415] FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array)

[0416] FR frequency range

[0417] G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0418] GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE radio access network

[0419] GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Nodes

[0420] GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Global Navigation Satellite System)

[0421] gNB Next Generation Node B

[0422] gNB-CU gNB centralized cell, next-generation node B centralized cell

[0423] gNB-DU gNB Distributed Unit, Next-Generation Node B Distributed Unit

[0424] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0425] GPRS General Packet Radio Service

[0426] GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Mobile Association

[0427] GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0428] GTP-U User Plane GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0429] GTS transitions to sleep signals (related to WUS)

[0430] GUMMEI is a globally unique MME identifier.

[0431] GUTI (Globally Unique Temporary UE Identifier)

[0432] HARQ (Hybrid ARQ) is a hybrid automatic repeat request mechanism.

[0433] HANDO, HO switch

[0434] HFN Super Frame Rate

[0435] HHO hard switch

[0436] HLR Home Location Register

[0437] HN Home Network

[0438] HO switch

[0439] HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network

[0440] HSDPA High-Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access

[0441] HSN Frequency Hopping Serial Number

[0442] HSPA High-Speed ​​Packet Access

[0443] HSS (Home Server)

[0444] HSUPA High-Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access

[0445] HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

[0446] HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) is HTTP / 1.1 secured via SSL (i.e., port 443).

[0447] I-Block Message Block

[0448] ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identifier

[0449] ICIC Inter-cell Interference Coordination

[0450] ID identifier

[0451] IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform)

[0452] IE Information Elements

[0453] IBE In-band Firing

[0454] IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

[0455] IEI Information Element Identifier

[0456] IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length

[0457] IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

[0458] IF Infrastructure

[0459] IM interference measurement, intermodulation, IP multimedia

[0460] IMC IMS credentials

[0461] IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity)

[0462] IMGI International Mobile Group Identity

[0463] IMPI IP Multimedia Privacy Identity

[0464] IMPU IP Multimedia Public Identity

[0465] IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

[0466] IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity)

[0467] IoT (Internet of Things)

[0468] IP Internet Protocol

[0469] IPsec (IP security, Internet Protocol security)

[0470] IP-CAN IP connection access network

[0471] IP-M IP Multicast

[0472] IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4)

[0473] IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)

[0474] IR infrared

[0475] IS Synchronization

[0476] IRP Integration Reference Point

[0477] ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

[0478] ISIM IM Service Identity Module

[0479] ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

[0480] ISP (Internet Service Provider)

[0481] IWF Interoperability

[0482] I-WLAN Interconnection WLAN

[0483] K-convolutional coding constraint length, USIM individual key

[0484] kB (kilobytes) (300 bytes)

[0485] kbps kilobits per second

[0486] Kc cryptographic key

[0487] Ki Individual User Authentication Key

[0488] KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

[0489] KQI (Key Quality Indicator)

[0490] KSI Key Set Identifier

[0491] ksps (kilos) per second

[0492] KVM kernel virtual machine

[0493] L1 Layer 1 (Physical Layer)

[0494] L1-RSRP Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power

[0495] Layer 2 (Data Link Layer)

[0496] Layer 3 (Network Layer)

[0497] LAA Licensed Assistance

[0498] LAN (Local Area Network)

[0499] LBT Listen before you speak

[0500] LCM Lifecycle Management

[0501] LCR Low Chip Rate

[0502] LCS Location Services

[0503] LCID Logical Channel ID

[0504] LI layer indicator

[0505] LLC logical link control, low-level compatibility

[0506] LPLMN Local PLMN

[0507] LPP LTE positioning protocol

[0508] LSB (Least Significant Bit)

[0509] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0510] LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation

[0511] LWIP features LTE / WLAN radio-level integration with IPsec tunneling.

[0512] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0513] M2M (Machine to Machine)

[0514] MAC Media Access Control (Protocol Layering Context)

[0515] MAC Message Authentication Code (Security / Encryption Context)

[0516] MAC-A is the MAC used for authentication and key negotiation (TSG T WG3 context).

[0517] MAC-I is the MAC (TSG T WG3 context) used for data integrity of signaling messages.

[0518] MANO Management and Scheduling

[0519] MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

[0520] MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network

[0521] MCC Mobile Country Code

[0522] MCG Main Cell Group

[0523] MCOT maximum channel occupancy time

[0524] MCS modulation and coding scheme

[0525] MDAF Management Data Analysis Function

[0526] MDAS Management Data Analysis Service

[0527] Minimize MDT-driven testing

[0528] ME Mobile Equipment

[0529] MeNB main eNB

[0530] MER message error rate

[0531] MGL Measurement Gap Length

[0532] MGRP measurement gap repetition cycle

[0533] MIB (Master Information Block), Management Information Base

[0534] MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output)

[0535] MLC Mobile Location Center

[0536] MM Mobility Management

[0537] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0538] MN master node

[0539] MO (Measuring Object), Mobile Station Caller

[0540] MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast Channel

[0541] MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0542] MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0543] MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access Channel

[0544] MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0545] MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching

[0546] MS Mobile Station

[0547] MSB Most significant bit

[0548] MSC Mobile Switching Center

[0549] MSI minimum system information, MCH scheduling information

[0550] MSID (Mobile Site Identifier)

[0551] MSIN Mobile Site Identifier

[0552] MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

[0553] MT mobile station receives a call, mobile terminal

[0554] MTC Machine Type Communication

[0555] mMTC (Massively Multi-Type Communication)

[0556] MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO)

[0557] MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS

[0558] NACK (Negative Acknowledgment)

[0559] NAI Network Access Identifier

[0560] NAS (Non-Access Layer)

[0561] NCT Network Connection Topology

[0562] NEC Network Capabilities Exposure

[0563] NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity

[0564] NEF Network Exposure Function

[0565] NF Network Functions

[0566] NFP Network Forwarding Path

[0567] NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor

[0568] NFV (Network Functions Virtualization)

[0569] NFVI NFV infrastructure

[0570] NFVO NFV orchestrator

[0571] NG Next Generation

[0572] NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0573] NM Network Manager

[0574] NMS Network Management System

[0575] N-PoP network existence points

[0576] NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB

[0577] NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel

[0578] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0579] NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0580] NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel

[0581] NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0582] NPSS Narrowband Master Synchronization Signal

[0583] Narrowband secondary synchronization signal (NSSS)

[0584] NR New Radio, Neighborhood Relations

[0585] NRF NF repository functionality

[0586] NRS Narrowband Reference Signal

[0587] NS Network Services

[0588] NSA Non-Standalone Operation Mode

[0589] NSD Network Service Descriptor

[0590] NSR Network Service Records

[0591] NSSAI Network Slice Selection Auxiliary Information

[0592] S-NNSAI Single NSSAI

[0593] NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

[0594] NW Network

[0595] NWUS narrowband wake-up signal, narrowband WUS

[0596] NZP non-zero power

[0597] O&M Operation and Maintenance

[0598] ODU2 Optical Channel Data Unit - Type 2

[0599] OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)

[0600] OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)

[0601] Out-of-band (OOB)

[0602] OOS out of sync

[0603] OPEX operating expenses

[0604] OSI Other System Information

[0605] OSS Operation Support System

[0606] OTA (Over-the-Air)

[0607] PAPR peak-to-average power ratio

[0608] PAR peak-to-average ratio

[0609] PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel)

[0610] PC power control, personal computer

[0611] PCC (Primary Component Carrier), Primary CC

[0612] PCell main cell

[0613] PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity

[0614] PCEF policy and billing enforcement functions

[0615] PCF policy control function

[0616] PCRF policy control and billing rules functions

[0617] PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) and its layer

[0618] PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)

[0619] PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol)

[0620] PDN (Packet Data Network), Public Data Network

[0621] PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel)

[0622] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0623] PEI Permanent Equipment Identifier

[0624] PFD Packet Flow Description

[0625] P-GW PDN Gateway

[0626] PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel

[0627] PHY physical layer

[0628] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

[0629] PIN Personal Identifier

[0630] PM Performance Measurement

[0631] PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0632] PNF (Physical Network Function)

[0633] PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor

[0634] PNFR Physical Network Function Record

[0635] PTC on Cellular PTT

[0636] PP, PTP point-to-point

[0637] PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

[0638] PRACH Physical RACH

[0639] PRB (Physical Resource Block)

[0640] PRG Physical Resource Block Group

[0641] ProSe proximity service, a service based on proximity.

[0642] PRS Positioning Reference Signal

[0643] PRR Packet Reception Radio

[0644] PS Grouping Service

[0645] PSBCH Physical Side Link Broadcast Channel

[0646] PSDCH Physical Side Downlink Channel

[0647] PSCCH (Physical Side Link Control Channel)

[0648] PSSCH Physical Side Link Shared Channel

[0649] PSCell main SCell

[0650] PSS Master Synchronization Signal

[0651] PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

[0652] PT-RS phase tracking reference signal

[0653] PTT Press Call

[0654] PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel)

[0655] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0656] QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

[0657] QCI QoS Category Identifier

[0658] QCL Quasi-co-located

[0659] QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier

[0660] QoS (Quality of Service)

[0661] QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

[0662] QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

[0663] RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI

[0664] RAB (Radio Access Bearer) for Random Access Bursts

[0665] RACH Random Access Channel

[0666] RADIUS Remote User Dialing Authentication Service

[0667] RAN (Radio Access Network)

[0668] RAND random number (used for authentication)

[0669] RAR Random Access Response

[0670] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0671] RAU Routing Area Update

[0672] RB resource block, radio bearer

[0673] RBG resource block group

[0674] REG Resource Element Group

[0675] Rel Release

[0676] REQ Request

[0677] RF (Radio Frequency)

[0678] RI rank indicator

[0679] RIV resource indicator value

[0680] RL radio link

[0681] RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control Layer

[0682] RLC AM RLC Confirmation Mode

[0683] RLC UM RLC Unconfirmed Mode

[0684] RLF radio link failure

[0685] RLM Radio Link Monitoring

[0686] RLM-RS is a reference signal used for RLM.

[0687] RM Registration Management

[0688] RMC Reference Measurement Channel

[0689] RMSI (Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information)

[0690] RN relay node

[0691] RNC Radio Network Controller

[0692] RNL Radio Network Layer

[0693] RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identifier)

[0694] ROHC Robust Standard Head Compressor

[0695] RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control Layer

[0696] RRM Radio Resource Management

[0697] RS reference signal

[0698] RSRP reference signal received power

[0699] RSRQ reference signal reception quality

[0700] RSSI Reference Signal Strength Indicator

[0701] RSU Roadside Unit

[0702] RSTD (Reference Signal Time Difference)

[0703] RTP Real-Time Protocol

[0704] RTS Ready to Send

[0705] RTT round trip time

[0706] Rx receiver

[0707] S1AP S1 Application Protocol

[0708] S1-MME is used for the S1 control plane.

[0709] S1-U is used for the user plane.

[0710] S-GW Service Gateway

[0711] S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0712] S-TMSI SAE Temporary Mobile Station Identifier

[0713] SA Independent Operation Mode

[0714] SAE System Architecture Evolution

[0715] SAP Service Access Point

[0716] SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor

[0717] SAPI Service Access Point Identifier

[0718] SCC secondary component carrier, secondary CC

[0719] SCell Auxiliary Community

[0720] SC-FDMA Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0721] SCG Auxiliary Community Group

[0722] SCM Security Context Management

[0723] SCS Subcarrier Spacing

[0724] SCTP (Stream Control Transfer Protocol)

[0725] SDAP Service Data Adaptive Protocol, Service Data Adaptive Protocol Layer

[0726] SDL supplements downlink

[0727] SDNF (Structured Data Storage Network) Functionality

[0728] SDP Service Discovery Protocol (Bluetooth related)

[0729] SDSF structured data storage function

[0730] SDU Service Data Unit

[0731] SEAF Safety Anchoring Function

[0732] SeNB assists eNB

[0733] SEPP Secure Edge Protection Agent

[0734] SFI Slot Format Indicator

[0735] SFTD (Spatial Frequency Time Diversity), SFN (Spatial Frequency Number), and Frame Timing Difference

[0736] SFN system frame number

[0737] SgNB auxiliary gNB

[0738] SGSN service GPRS supported nodes

[0739] S-GW Service Gateway

[0740] SI System Information

[0741] SI-RNTI System Information RNTI

[0742] SIB System Information Block

[0743] SIM User Identity Module

[0744] SIP Session Initiation Protocol

[0745] SiP (System-in-Package)

[0746] SL side link

[0747] SLA (Service Level Agreement)

[0748] SM Session Management

[0749] SMF Session Management Function

[0750] SMS Short Message Service

[0751] SMSF SMS Function

[0752] SMTC Measurement Timing Configuration Based on SSB

[0753] SN secondary node, sequence number

[0754] SoC (System-on-a-Chip)

[0755] SON Self-Organizing Network

[0756] SpCell Special Cell

[0757] SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-persistent CSI RNTI

[0758] SPS Semi-Persistent Scheduling

[0759] SON serial number

[0760] SR scheduling request

[0761] SRB signaling radio bearer

[0762] SRS Detection Reference Signal

[0763] SS synchronization signal

[0764] SSB synchronization signal block, SS / PBCH block

[0765] SSBRI SS / PBCH block resource indicator, synchronization signal block resource indicator

[0766] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0767] SS-RSRP Reference Signal Received Power Based on Synchronization Signal

[0768] SS-RSRQ Reference Signal Reception Quality Based on Synchronization Signal

[0769] SS-SINR is based on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the synchronization signal.

[0770] SSS auxiliary synchronization signal

[0771] SSSG Search Space Group

[0772] SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator

[0773] SST slices / service types

[0774] SU-MIMO (Single-User MIMO)

[0775] SUL supplements uplink

[0776] TA timing ahead, tracking area

[0777] TAC tracking area code

[0778] TAG Timed Advance Group

[0779] TAU tracking area update

[0780] TB transfer block

[0781] TBS (Transfer Block Size)

[0782] TBD to be defined

[0783] TCI Transport Configuration Indicator

[0784] TCP Transmission Communication Protocol

[0785] TDD (Time Division Duplex)

[0786] TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)

[0787] TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)

[0788] TE terminal equipment

[0789] TEID (Tunnel Endpoint Identifier)

[0790] TFT Business Flow Template

[0791] TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0792] TNL Transport Network Layer

[0793] TPC Transmission Power Control

[0794] Precoding matrix indicator for TPMI transmission

[0795] TR Technical Report

[0796] TRP, TRxP Transmitter / Receiver Point

[0797] TRS Tracking Reference Signal

[0798] TRx transceiver

[0799] TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standards

[0800] TTI Transmission Time Interval

[0801] Tx Transmission, Transmission, Transmitter

[0802] U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0803] UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

[0804] UCI uplink control information

[0805] UE User Equipment

[0806] UDM Unified Data Management

[0807] UDP User Datagram Protocol

[0808] UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function

[0809] UICC General Integrated Circuit Card

[0810] UL uplink

[0811] UM Unconfirmed Mode

[0812] UML (Unified Modeling Language)

[0813] UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)

[0814] UP User Plane

[0815] UPF User Plane Functions

[0816] URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)

[0817] URL Uniform Resource Locator

[0818] URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low Latency

[0819] USB Universal Serial Bus

[0820] USIM Universal User Identity Module

[0821] USS UE-specific search space

[0822] UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

[0823] UTRAN (Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network)

[0824] UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot

[0825] V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure)

[0826] V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian)

[0827] V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle)

[0828] V2X Connectivity of Everything

[0829] VIM Virtualization Infrastructure Manager

[0830] VL Virtual Link

[0831] VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network)

[0832] VM virtual machine

[0833] VNF Virtualization Network Function

[0834] VNFFG VNF forwarded image

[0835] VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor

[0836] VNFM VNF Manager

[0837] VoIP (Voice over IP) and Internet Protocol (VoIP)

[0838] VPLMN surveyed public terrestrial mobile networks

[0839] VPN (Virtual Private Network)

[0840] VRB (Virtual Resource Block)

[0841] WiMAX Global Microwave Access Interoperability

[0842] WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)

[0843] WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

[0844] WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network)

[0845] X2-C X2 Control Plane

[0846] X2-U X2 User Plane

[0847] XML (Extensible Markup Language)

[0848] 2ES Expected User Response

[0849] XOR (Exclusive OR)

[0850] ZC Zadoff-Chu

[0851] ZP Zero Power

[0852] Exemplary terms

[0853] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply to the examples and implementations discussed herein, but are not intended to be restrictive.

[0854] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes the following: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) and / or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable SoCs), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the said functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions (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 particular type of circuit.

[0855] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" means, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures). The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuit" and may be referred to as "processor circuit".

[0856] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, etc.

[0857] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to equipment of a remote user that has radio communication capabilities and can describe network resources in a communication network. The term "user equipment" or "UE" can be considered synonymous with and can be referred to as: 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. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can include any type of wireless / wired equipment or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0858] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as networked computers, network hardware, network equipment, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, radio network controllers, RAN equipment, RAN nodes, gateways, servers, virtualized virtual networks (VNFs), NFVIs, etc.

[0859] As used herein, the term "computer system" means any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Additionally, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to the various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0860] As used herein, the terms “appliance,” “computer appliance,” etc., refer to a computer device or computer system having program code (e.g., software or firmware) specifically designed to provide particular computing resources. A “virtual appliance” is a virtual machine image implemented by a device equipped with a hypervisor that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance, or otherwise dedicates itself to providing particular computing resources.

[0861] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, and / or physical or virtual components within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time and / or processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power supply, input / output operations, port or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, databases and applications, units of workload, etc. "Hardware resources" can refer to computing, storage, and / or networking resources provided by physical hardware components. "Virtualized resources" can refer to computing, storage, and / or networking resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The terms "network resources" or "communication resources" can refer to resources accessible to computer devices / systems via a communication network. The term "system resources" can refer to any kind of shared entity providing services and can include computing resources and / or network resources. System resources can be considered as a coherent set of functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0862] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous and / or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," and / or any other similar term denoteing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices via a RAT for transmitting and receiving information.

[0863] As used in this article, the terms "instantiate" and "instantiate" refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0864] This document uses the terms “coupled,” “communicably coupled,” and their derivatives. The term “coupled” can mean two or more elements in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, or two or more elements in indirect contact but still interacting or cooperating with each other, and / or one or more other elements coupled or connected between elements that are said to be coupled to each other. The term “directly coupled” can mean two or more elements in direct contact with each other. The term “communicably coupled” can mean two or more elements that can be in contact with each other by means of communication, including via wires or other interconnections, via wireless communication channels or links, etc.

[0865] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual content of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

[0866] The term "SMTC" refers to the SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

[0867] The term "SSB" refers to the SS / PBCH block.

[0868] The term "primary cell" refers to an MCG cell operating on the primary frequency, where the UE either performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection reconstruction procedure.

[0869] The term "primary SCG cell" refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when reconfiguration is performed using the synchronization process used for DC operation.

[0870] The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a special cell of a UE configured with a CA.

[0871] The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells that includes the PSCell of the UE configured with DC and zero or more secondary cells.

[0872] The term "serving cell" refers to the primary cell for a UE that is not configured with CA / DC in RRC_CONNECTED, where there is only one serving cell including the primary cell.

[0873] The term "serving cell" refers to a group of cells that includes the special cell used by a UE configured with CA and in RRC_CONNECTED, and all secondary cells.

[0874] The term "special cell" refers to the PCcell of an MCG or the PSCell of an SCG used for DC operation; otherwise, the term "special cell" refers to the Pcell.

[0875] As described above, various aspects of this technology may include the collection and use of data available from a variety of sources to, for example, improve or enhance functionality. This disclosure contemplates that, in some instances, such collected data may include personal information that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate specific individuals. Such personal information may include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, Twitter IDs, home addresses, data or records related to a user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other identifying information or personal information. This disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information in this technology can be used to benefit users.

[0876] This disclosure assumes that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing, or otherwise using such personal information data will comply with established privacy policies and / or privacy practices. Specifically, such entities should implement and adhere to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy and security of personal information data. Such policies should be easily accessible to users and should be updated as data collection and / or use change. Personal information from users should be collected for the entity's lawful and reasonable purposes and not shared or sold outside of these lawful uses. Furthermore, such collection / sharing should only occur upon receipt of the user's informed consent. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to protect and safeguard access to such personal information data and ensure that others with access to such personal information data comply with their privacy policies and processes. Additionally, such entities may be subject to third-party evaluations to demonstrate their compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. Furthermore, policies and practices should be adapted to the specific types of personal information data collected and / or accessed, and to applicable laws and standards, including specific considerations regarding jurisdiction. For example, in the United States, the collection or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Transfer and Accountability Act (HIPAA); while in other countries, health data may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Therefore, different privacy practices should be maintained for different types of personal data in each country.

[0877] Regardless of the foregoing, this disclosure also anticipates implementation schemes for users to selectively block the use or access to personal information data. That is, this disclosure anticipates providing hardware and / or software components to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the technology can be configured to allow users to selectively participate in the collection of personal information data at any time during or after service registration via an "opt-in" or "opt-out" option. In addition to providing "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, this disclosure envisions providing notifications related to access to or use of personal information. For example, users may be notified when downloading an application that their personal information data will be accessed, and then reminded again just before the application accesses the personal information data.

[0878] Furthermore, the purpose of this disclosure is to manage and process personal information data to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Once data is no longer needed, this risk can be minimized by limiting data collection and deleting data. Additionally, and where applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data deidentification can be used to protect user privacy. Deidentification can be facilitated, where appropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth, etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at the city level rather than the address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data among users), and / or other methods.

[0879] Therefore, while this disclosure broadly covers the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, it is also contemplated that various embodiments can be implemented without access to such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present invention will not be rendered inoperable due to the absence of all or part of such personal information data.

Claims

1. A method for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements, the method comprising: The User Equipment (UE) receives a configuration message from the Access Node with a parameter MeasCycleSCell, wherein the parameter MeasCycleSCell indicates the measurement period specified for performing the CA RRM measurement on the secondary cell SCell of the CA, and the parameter MeasCycleSCell is selected from a plurality of candidate values ​​suitable for the CA RRM measurement on the SCell, wherein at least one of the plurality of candidate values ​​is less than the minimum candidate value within the first radio technology specification. The UE determines the measurement cycle for performing the CA RRM measurement on the SCell of the CA, wherein: When not using the common discontinuous reception DRX, the measurement period is determined to be X1*MeasCycleSCell, where X1 is less than 5, and When using the public DRX, the measurement period is determined to be max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T). measure_scc1_hs ), where T measure_scc1_hs Less than T measure_scc1 And T measure_scc1 Defined by the second wireless technology specification; The UE determines the cell identifier delay for performing the CA RRM measurement on the SCell, where: When public DRX is not used, the cell identifier delay is determined to be X2 * MeasCycleSCell, where X2 is less than 20, and When using public DRX, the cell identifier delay is determined to be max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T). identity_scc1_hs ), where T identity_scc1_hs Less than T identity_scc1 And T identity_scc1 Defined by the second wireless technology specification; The UE identifies the new detectable cell on the secondary component carrier SCC as the SCell within the cell identifier delay; The UE performs the CA RRM measurement on the SCell of the SCC during the measurement period; and The UE reports the CA RRM measurement to the access node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The UE performs an action on the SCell in response to the CA RRM measurement.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the SCell comprises a deactivated SCell.

5. An apparatus for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements, the apparatus comprising: A radio front-end circuit configured to receive from an access node a configuration message having a parameter MeasCycleSCell, the parameter MeasCycleSCell being described in a first radio specification to indicate a measurement period specified for performing the CA RRM measurement on the secondary cell SCell and being selected from a plurality of candidate values ​​of the parameter MeasCycleSCell suitable for the CA RRM measurement on the SCell, at least one of the plurality of candidate values ​​being less than the minimum candidate value in the first radio specification; and A processing circuit, coupled to the radio front-end circuit, is configured to: Determine the measurement cycle for the CA RRM measurement on the SCell used to perform the CA, wherein: When not using the common discontinuous reception DRX, the measurement period is determined to be X1*MeasCycleSCell, where X1 is less than 5, and When using the public DRX, the measurement period is determined to be max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T). measure_scc1_hs ), where T measure_scc1_hs Less than T measure_scc1 And T measure_scc1 Defined by the second wireless technology specification; Determine the cell identifier delay for the CA RRM measurement on the SCell used to perform the CA, wherein: When public DRX is not used, the cell identifier delay is determined to be X2 * MeasCycleSCell, where X2 is less than 20, and When using public DRX, the cell identifier delay is determined to be max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T). identity_scc1_hs ), where T identity_scc1_hs Less than T identity_scc1 And T identity_scc1 Defined by the second wireless technology specification; Within the cell identification delay, the new detectable cell of the secondary component carrier SCC is identified as the SCell, and The CA RRM measurement is performed on the SCell of the SCC during the measurement cycle. The radio front-end circuitry is further configured to report the CA RRM measurements to the access node.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the configuration message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform an action with respect to the SCell in response to the CA RRM measurement.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the SCell comprises a deactivated SCell.

9. A system for performing carrier aggregation (CA) radio resource management (RRM) measurements, the system comprising: An access node is configured to provide a configuration message having a parameter MeasCycleSCell, which is described in a first radio specification to indicate a measurement period specified for performing the CARRM measurement on the secondary cell SCell. The parameter MeasCycleSCell is selected from a plurality of candidate values ​​of the parameter MeasCycleSCell suitable for the CARRM measurement on the SCell, at least one of the plurality of candidate values ​​being less than the minimum candidate value in the first radio specification. and User equipment (UE), the UE being configured as follows: Determine the measurement cycle for the CA RRM measurement on the SCell used to perform the CA, wherein: When not using the common discontinuous reception DRX, the measurement period is determined to be X1*MeasCycleSCell, where X1 is less than 5, and When using the public DRX, the measurement period is determined to be max(5*MeasCycleSCell,T). measure_scc1_hs ), where T measure_scc1_hs Less than T measure_scc1 And T measure_scc1 Defined by the second wireless technology specification; Determine the cell identifier delay for the CA RRM measurement on the SCell used to perform the CA, wherein: When public DRX is not used, the cell identifier delay is determined to be X2 * MeasCycleSCell, where X2 is less than 20, and When using public DRX, the cell identifier delay is determined to be max(20*MeasCycleSCell,T). identity_scc1_hs ), where T identity_scc1_hs Less than T identity_scc1 And T identity_scc1 Defined by the second wireless technology specification; Within the cell identification delay, the new detectable cell on the secondary component carrier SCC is identified as the SCell. The CA RRM measurement of the SCell on the SCC is performed during the measurement cycle, and Report the CA RRM measurement to the access node.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the configuration message includes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the UE is further configured to perform an action with respect to the SCell in response to the CA RRM measurement.

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