Grant-based and configured grant-based PUSCH transmission in unlicensed spectrum

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, devices, methods and computer-readable media used in wireless networks for authorized physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and configured authorized PUSCH transmissions based on new radio systems operating in unlicensed spectrum. Some embodiments relate to user equipment (UE) including a processor circuit and a radio circuit. The processor circuit can be configured to receive configuration data from a source device associated with a source cell using the radio circuit, and determine a starting position and an ending position for transmitting data in multiple time slots in the PUSCH within a shared channel occupancy time (COT) based on the configuration data, wherein the starting position depends on a listen-before-talk (LBT) result. The processor circuit can perform LBT and transmit data at the starting position in an available time slot of the COT using the radio circuit.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit under 35 USC §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 805,270, filed on February 13, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

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

[0004] Some embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, apparatus, methods, and computer-readable media for use in wireless networks for license-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions and configured license-based PUSCH transmissions in a new radio system operating in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0005] Some embodiments relate to a user equipment (UE) including a radio front-end circuit and a processor circuit coupled to the radio front-end circuit. Some embodiments include using the radio front-end circuit to receive configuration data from a source device associated with a source cell, and determining a starting position and an ending position based on the configuration data, wherein the starting position and the ending position are used to transmit data in multiple time slots in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) within a shared channel occupancy time (COT), wherein the starting position depends on a first pre-dialogue listening (LBT) result. The configuration data can be received via a downlink control information (DCI) signal or a higher layer signal. Some embodiments include performing a first LBT, and using the radio front-end circuit to transmit data at a starting position in an available time slot of a shared COT.

[0006] Some embodiments include determining that the first LBT is successful and continuously transmitting data in a plurality of time slots corresponding to the plurality of uplink time slots of the COT. Some embodiments include determining that the first LBT is unsuccessful and an available time slot occurs after the time slot corresponding to the first LBT. Continuously transmitting data in a plurality of time slots corresponding to the plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

[0007] Some embodiments include attempting a first LBT at a first symbol of an available time slot, determining that the first LBT was successful, and transmitting data in remaining symbols of the available time slot using the radio front-end circuit. Some embodiments include attempting a second LBT at a first symbol of a next available time slot, determining that the second LBT was successful, and transmitting data in remaining symbols of the next available time slot using the radio front-end circuit, wherein the data is not continuous with the data transmitted in the available time slot.

[0008] Some embodiments include attempting a first LBT at a first symbol of an available time slot, determining that the first LBT is unsuccessful, attempting a second LBT at a second symbol of the available time slot, determining that the second LBT is successful, and transmitting the data using the radio front-end circuit, wherein the transmission is punctured or rate matched in the remaining symbols of the available time slot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 Depicted are examples of time resources for a multi-slot Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) in accordance with some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 2 A second example of time resources for a multi-slot PUSCH is depicted in accordance with some embodiments.

[0011] Figure 3 Depicted are examples of time resources for configuring a grant (CG) PUSCH according to some embodiments.

[0012] Figure 4 A second example of time resources for CG PUSCH according to some embodiments is depicted.

[0013] Figure 5 Depicted is a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) in consecutive UL time slots according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 6 Depicted is the architecture of a system of networks according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 7 An architecture of a system including a first core network according to some embodiments is depicted.

[0016] Figure 8 An architecture of a system including a second core network according to some embodiments is depicted.

[0017] Fig. 9 Depicted are examples of infrastructure equipment according to some embodiments.

[0018] Fig.10 Depicted are exemplary components of a computer platform according to various embodiments.

[0019] Fig.11 Depicted are exemplary components of baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry according to various embodiments.

[0020] Fig.12 is a diagram of various protocol functions that may be used in various protocol stacks according to various embodiments.

[0021] Fig.13Components of a core network are shown according to various embodiments.

[0022] Fig.14 is a block diagram illustrating components of a NFV-enabled system according to various embodiments.

[0023] Fig.15 Depicted are block diagrams showing components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to various embodiments.

[0024] Fig.16 Depicted are exemplary flow diagrams for practicing various embodiments discussed herein, such as configuring operations of a user equipment (UE) for grant-based PUSCH transmissions and configuring grant-based PUSCH transmissions in a system operating in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0025] Fig.17 Depicted are exemplary methods for practicing various embodiments discussed herein, e.g., operations of a user equipment (UE) for grant-based PUSCH transmissions and / or configured grant-based PUSCH transmissions in a system operating in an unlicensed spectrum.

[0026] Features and advantages of the embodiments will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify corresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, like reference numerals generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and / or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit in the corresponding reference numeral. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so that the description of various embodiments will not be obscured by unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0028] Every year, the number of mobile devices connecting to wireless networks increases significantly. In order to keep up with the demand for mobile data traffic, necessary changes must be made to system requirements to be able to meet these demands. The three key areas that require enhancements to achieve this traffic increase are greater bandwidth, lower latency, and higher data rates.

[0029] One of the limiting factors in wireless innovation is the availability of spectrum. To alleviate this, unlicensed spectrum has been an area of ​​great interest in extending the availability of LTE. In this context, one of the enhancements to LTE in 3GPP Release 13 is to enable it to operate in unlicensed spectrum via Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), which extends the system bandwidth by leveraging the flexible carrier aggregation (CA) framework introduced by the Advanced LTE system.

[0030] Since the main building blocks of the framework for NR have been established, the natural enhancement is to allow it to operate on unlicensed spectrum as well. Some of the goals for shared / unlicensed spectrum in 5G NR are:

[0031] - Physical layer aspects including [RAN1]:

[0032] - A frame structure including single and multiple DL to UL and UL to DL switching points within a shared channel occupancy time (COT) with associated identified Listen Before Talk (LBT) requirements.

[0033] -UL data channel, which includes an extension of PUSCH to support PRB-based frequency block interleaved transmission; it should be understood that the end position is indicated by the UL grant, and multiple PUSCH start positions in one or more time slots are supported according to the LBT result; the UE is not required to change the design of the authorized TBS for PUSCH transmission according to the LBT result. The necessary PUSCH enhancement is based on CP-OFDM. The applicability of sub-PRB frequency block interleaved transmission for 60kHz is determined by RAN1.

[0034] - Physical layer procedures including [RAN1, RAN2]:

[0035] - For LBE, the channel access mechanism complies with the agreement of the NR-U study project (TR 38.889, section 7.2.1.3.1).

[0036] -HARQ Operation: NR HARQ feedback mechanism is baseline NR-U operation with extensions consistent with the protocol during the study phase (NR-UTR Section 7.2.1.3.3), including immediate transmission of HARQ A / N for corresponding data in the same shared COT and transmission of HARQ A / N in a subsequent COT. Mechanisms to provide multiple and / or complementary time and / or frequency domain transmission opportunities are potentially supported. (RAN1)

[0037] - Scheduling of PUSCH in accordance with the study protocol (TR 38.889, Section 7.2.1.3.3) for multiple TTIs. (RAN1)

[0038] - Configuration Authorization Operation: NR Type 1 and Type 2 Configuration Authorization mechanisms are the baseline for NR-U operation with modifications consistent with the protocol during the study phase (NR-UTR Section 7.2.1.3.4). (RAN1)

[0039] -Data multiplexing aspects considering LBT and channel access priority (for both UL and DL). (RAN1 / RAN2)

[0040] In some embodiments, the challenge is that the system must maintain fair coexistence with other existing technologies, and to this end, some restrictions may be taken into account when designing the system, depending on the specific frequency band in which it may operate. For example, if operating in the 5GHz band, a listen-before-talk (LBT) process needs to be performed to acquire the medium before transmission can occur. Grant-based PUSCH (GB PUSCH) and configured grant-based PUSCH (CG PUSCH) may exist in the same cell. Correctly handling these two types of transmission schemes is important for efficient cell operation, especially considering GB multi-TTI transmissions and CGPUSCH with repetitions. To address these issues, the present disclosure provides details on the design of GB PUSCH transmissions and CG PUSCH transmissions for NR to allow operation in unlicensed spectrum in an efficient manner.

[0041] In NR systems operating on unlicensed spectrum, the impact of LBT on PUSCH transmission should be minimized since the transmission is conditional on the success of the LBT process. GB PUSCH can be prioritized over CG PUSCH. Considering the overhead and blind detection, the DCI format for scheduling multi-TTI PUSCH is designed. Considering CBG-based CG PUSCH transmission, the DFI overhead is minimized.

[0042] DCI format for single TTI / multi-TTI PUSCH

[0043] NR-U will support scheduling multiple TTIs for PUSCH, i.e., scheduling multiple TBs with different HARQ process IDs on multiple time slots using a single UL grant. A new DCI format for scheduling multi-TTI PUSCH can be designed based on the two DCI formats 0_0 and 0_1 defined in NR Rel-15. Due to regulatory restrictions on occupied channel bandwidth (OCB), PUSCH resource allocation will be redesigned compared to Rel-15. The frequency resource allocation field in the DCI may change, which results in the DCI being different from DCI 0_0 and 0_1. The frequency resource allocation field in the DCI can follow any field designed for frequency resource allocation in NR-U. Throughout this section, single TTI scheduling means scheduling of a single TB, and multi-TTI scheduling means scheduling of multiple TBs.

[0044] In some embodiments, two new DCI formats are derived based on DCI 0_0, denoted as DCI 0_0A and 0_0B, which support single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling, respectively. Two new DCI formats are derived based on DCI 0_1, denoted as DCI 0_1A and 0_1B, which support single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling, respectively.

[0045] In some embodiments, only one new DCI format is derived based on DCI 0_0, denoted as DCI 0_0A, which supports single TTI scheduling. Two new DCI formats are derived based on DCI 0_1, denoted as DCI 0_1A and 0_1B, which support single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling, respectively. In fact, DCI 0_0 is a fallback DCI and is mainly for the robustness of transmission and may not need to be extended to support multi-TTI transmission.

[0046] In some embodiments, only one new DCI format is derived based on DCI 0_0, denoted as DCI 0_0A, which supports single TTI scheduling. Only one new DCI format is derived based on DCI 0_1, denoted as DCI 0_1C, which supports dynamic switching between single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling.

[0047] In some embodiments, for the above DCI formats 0_0B, 0_1B, or 0_1C, at least some of the following fields are required:

[0048] - New Data Indicator (NDI) for each Transport Block (TB).

[0049] - Redundancy Version (RV) per TB, either 1 or 2 bits can be considered.

[0050] - A single HARQ process number h, for example, a single number h is assigned to the first TB, while the kth TB uses HARQ process number h+k, h=0, 1, ..., N-1, N is the number of TBs predefined or configured for multi-TTI PUSCH.

[0051] - Channel access type can be No LBT, Aggressive LBT (e.g., One-time LBT with 25us CCA) or Conservative LBT (e.g., CAT-4 LBT). No LBT means direct transmission without LBT with a gap less than, for example, 16μs.

[0052] - Channel access priority level, such as 2 bits defined in LTE LAA.

[0053] -The number of scheduled time slots, the maximum number of scheduled time slots can be predefined or configured by RRC signaling. If both DCI 0_1A and 0_1A are used, DCI 0_1B can indicate the number of scheduled time slots from 2 to N; for DCI 0_1C, the number of scheduled time slots is in the range of 1 to N, N is the number of TBs predefined or configured in multi-TTI PUSCH.

[0054] - The starting position of PUSCH, for example, LTE LAA supports 4 starting positions, namely OS 0, 25μs after OS 0, 25μs after OS 0 + TA, and OS 1. The value will be defined for NR-U. In some embodiments, the starting position of PUSCH is OS X, OS X + 25μs, OS X + 25μs + TA, and OS X + 1, where X is the starting symbol that can be indicated in different fields.

[0055] - The start symbol index and the end symbol index of the time resource. These two information can be signaled separately or jointly encoded.

[0056] -CBGTI, CBGTI is present if CBG-based transport is configured.

[0057] -Indication of whether COT sharing is allowed for the CG UE: In some embodiments, this field may consist of one bit and only indicate whether COT sharing is enabled or disabled; in some embodiments, this field may consist of 2 / 3 bits and indicate the length of the available shared COT, so that the CG UE can pre-evaluate whether to transmit in the shared COT, because in some embodiments, the CG UE is only allowed to perform transmission within the shared COT if there is enough data to utilize those available time domain resources.

[0058] In some embodiments, the channel access field in DCI 0_0A or 0_0B is 1 bit, and the channel access field in DCI 0_1A, 0_1B or 0_1C is 2 bits. The channel access field in DCI 0_0A or 0_0B indicates no LBT or one-time LBT, while the channel access field in DCI 0_1A, 0_1B or 0_1C indicates no LBT, one-time LBT or CAT-4 LBT. In some embodiments, the channel access field is one bit for all DCI formats 0_0A, 0_0B, 0_1A, 0_1B or 0_1C, and the two states indicated by the field are configured by RRC signaling. In some embodiments, the channel access field in DCI 0_0A is 2 bits, indicating no LBT, one-time LBT or CAT-4 LBT.

[0059] In some embodiments, both DCI 0_1A and 0_1B are used, and the two DCI formats have different sizes. The CBGTI of DCI 0_1A is S bits, which is used to indicate whether a CBG is transmitted for a TB / which CBGs are transmitted for a TB. The CBGTI of DCI 0_1B is M bits per TB. Assuming that there are a total of N TBs in a multi-TTI PUSCH, the total number of CBGTI bits is MN bits. S, M and / or N can be predefined or configured by RRC signaling. Usually MN is much larger than S. In order to limit the size of DCI 0_1B, the maximum value of M can be reduced compared to S. For example, S can be 2, 4 or 8, and M can be 2 or 4.

[0060] In some embodiments, a TB scheduled by DCI 0_1A cannot be rescheduled by DCI 0_1B, and a TB scheduled by DCI 0_1B cannot be rescheduled by DCI 0_1A. In some embodiments, any DCI format including DCI 0_1A, 0_1B and other DCI formats can be used to schedule any transmission or retransmission of a TB. Specifically, the number of CBGTI bits is S and M for DCI 0_1A and DCI 0_1B, respectively. S is usually greater than M. For a TB scheduled by DCI 0_1A in one transmission and a TB scheduled by DCI 0_1B in another transmission, one question is how to interpret the CBGTI in the two DCI formats. Assuming S>M, the S CBGs of the TB are grouped into M CBG groups. Each CBG group uses one CBGTI bit of the TB in DCI 0_1B. In some embodiments, CBGs with index k are grouped into CBG groups mod(k, M), k=0, 1…S-1. If the CBGTI bit of a TB in DCI 0_1B is ACK, it means rescheduling all CBGs of the TB in the CBG group corresponding to the CBGTI bit. Alternatively, the TB can be first divided into M CBGs applied to DCI 0_1B, and then each of the M CBGs is divided into ceil(S / M) or floor(S / M) subgroups. Then, each subgroup uses one CBGTI bit of the TB in DCI 0_1A. In some embodiments, if k < mod(k, M), the CBG with index k from m CBGs is divided into ceil(S / M) subgroups, otherwise ceil(S / M), k = 0, 1...M-1. If the CBGTI bit of a TB in DCI 0_1A is ACK, it means rescheduling the subgroup of the corresponding CBG of the TB corresponding to the CBGTI bit.

[0061] In some embodiments, DCI 0_1C is used to support dynamic switching between single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling. The CBGTI of DCI 0_1C is M bits per TB. Assuming there are N TBs in total in multi-TTI PUSCH, the total number of CBGTI bits is MN bits. When less than N TBs are scheduled, the number of CBGs per TB can be greater than M.

[0062] In some embodiments, in the case where only a single TB is scheduled by DCI 0_1C, there are still only M CBG bits for the TB. In this case, no special processing is required for the CBG grouping. In some embodiments, in the case where DCI 0_1C only schedules a single TB, S CBGTI bits from MN bits, S>M can be used for the TB. In this case, the TB can first be divided into S CBGs, which is applicable to single TTI scheduling, and then the S CBGs are grouped into M CBG groups. Each CBG group uses one CBGTI bit of the TB in multi-TTI scheduling. In some embodiments, CBGs with index k are grouped into CBG groups mod(k, M), k=0, 1…S-1. According to some embodiments, if the CBGTI bit of a TB in multi-TTI scheduling is ACK, it means rescheduling all CBGs in the CBG group of the TB corresponding to the CBGTI bit. Alternatively, the TB can first be divided into M CBGs applied to multi-TTI scheduling, and then each of the M CBGs is divided into ceil(S / M) or floor(S / M) subgroups. Then, each subgroup uses one CBGTI bit of the TB in single TTI scheduling. In some embodiments, if k < mod (k, M), the CBG with index k from m CBGs is divided into ceil (S / M) subgroups, otherwise ceil (S / M), k = 0, 1 ... M-1. If the CBGTI bit of a TB in single TTI scheduling is ACK, it means rescheduling the subgroup of the corresponding CBG of the TB corresponding to the CBGTI bit.

[0063] In some embodiments, when n TBs are scheduled by DCI 0_1C, n<N, MN bits of CBGTI are reallocated to n TBs. T=MN / n or T=min(MN / n, S) bits of CBGTI can be allocated to one TB. S is the maximum number of CBGs for a TB. The TB can be first divided into S CBGs, and then the S CBGs are grouped into T CBG groups. CBGs with index k are grouped into CBG groups mod(k, T), k=0, 1…S-1. A CBG group is mapped to one CBGTI bit.

[0064] In some embodiments, DCI 0_1C, when only a single TB is scheduled, the TB uses a 2-bit RV; otherwise, the RV is 1 bit per TB.

[0065] In some embodiments, if CBG-based transmission is not configured, only one DCI format, DCI0_1C, is used to dynamically switch between single-TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling, otherwise, both DCI formats 0_1A and 0_1B are used.

[0066] HARQ feedback using DFI

[0067] In FeLAAAUL, DFI is introduced to indicate HARQ-ACK for PUSCH. One HARQ-ACK bit is transmitted for each TB in DFI. In some embodiments, such a scheme may result in considerable overhead because PUSCH based on NR-U configuration grant may support CBG-based transmission. In some embodiments, assuming that the CG has 16 HARQ processes and each TB has 8 CBGs, 128 bits should be carried in DFI.

[0068] In some embodiments, N HARQ-ACK bits are allocated for each HARQ process configured for the CG, while only 1 bit is allocated for other HARQ processes. N is a number predefined or configured by RRC signaling. N can be configured by the same signaling as the configured number of CBGs for the TB, or N can be configured by separate RRC signaling. The 1 bit that is not configured for the HARQ process for the CG is not used to trigger the transmission or retransmission of the grant-based PUSCH, but can be information used in CWS regulation. This means that even if the grant-based PUSCH is also based on the CBG, only 1 bit is still allocated in the DFI for overhead reduction.

[0069] In some implementations, the DFI in NR-U may match the size of a DCI with a larger size (e.g., DCI 0_1B or 0_1C). Specifically, the DFI in NR-U may match the size of a DL DCI with a larger size.

[0070] In some embodiments, all HARQ processes for GB and CG PUSCH may be divided into X subsets, X>1. Each subset of HARQ processes is mapped to a separate DFI. In this way, the size of the DFI is reduced.

[0071] In some embodiments, the HARQ processes configured for CG may be divided into X subsets, where X>1. Each subset of HARQ processes is mapped to a separate DFI. In the DFI, for the corresponding subset of HARQ processes configured for CG, N HARQ-ACK bits are allocated to each HARQ process. For all other HARQ processes that do not belong to the subset, each HARQ process includes 1 bit of HARQ-ACK regardless of whether it is configured for CG. N is a number predefined or configured by RRC signaling. N is configured by the same signaling as the configured number of CBGs of the TB, or N may be configured by separate RRC signaling. 1 bit per HARQ process may be information used in CWS regulation. For HARQ processes configured for CG, it depends on whether the UE uses the 1 bit for new transmission or retransmission. For example, assuming that if at least one CBG is erroneous, the 1 bit per HARQ process is generated as NACK, and if the 1 bit is ACK, the UE may stop the continuous repetitive PUSCH transmission of the relevant HARQ process.

[0072] In some embodiments, CBG grouping may be applied to reduce the number of HARQ-ACK bits configured for each HARQ process for the CG. Assuming that the configured number of CBGs is S for a TB, the S CBGs need to be grouped into N CBG groups. N is a number predefined or configured by RRC signaling. N is configured by the same signaling as the configured number of CBGs for the TB, or N may be configured by separate RRC signaling. Assuming that the number of CBGTI bits per TB is different for single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling, N may be equal to the smaller number of CBGTI bits per TB between single TTI scheduling and multi-TTI scheduling. One HARQ-ACK bit for each CBG group is included in the DFI. Preferably, CBGs with index k are grouped into CBG groups mod(k, N), k=0, 1…S-1. If one bit of a CBG group of a TB is ACK in the DFI, it means that all CBGs in the CBG group are ACK, otherwise, a bundled NACK is signaled for the CBGs in the CBG group via the DFI.

[0073] In some embodiments, CBG (re)transmission is enabled for CG. In this case, 8 bits for CBGTI are carried in CG-UCI, and based on the configuration, only the first or last N (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) carry useful information, while the other bits are interpreted as padding bits.

[0074] Time resources of multi-slot PUSCH

[0075] In NR-U, when PUSCH is triggered due to the limitation of LBT, the UE cannot always acquire the channel. Therefore, methods to reduce LBT attempts may be beneficial.

[0076] In some embodiments, for grant-based multi-slot PUSCH, once the UE occupies the channel by successfully performing LBT, the UE can continuously transmit in multiple slots. Assuming that information about the start symbol index and the end symbol index is indicated, these two pieces of information can be signaled or jointly encoded. Figure 1 As shown, in the first slot for channel occupation, the UE shall follow the indicated start symbol, and the last symbol in the first slot is the last symbol of the slot, i.e., symbol 13. In the last slot for channel occupation, the UE shall follow the indicated end symbol, and the first symbol in the last slot is symbol 0. For any intermediate slots (if any), they start at symbol 0 and end at symbol 13. In some embodiments, if the UE fails to pass LBT in a slot, the UE must try LBT again in the next slot. Preferably, as Figure 1 As shown, the UE may attempt LBT at symbol 0 of the next time slot. In some embodiments, within a time slot, the UE may attempt to perform LBT at multiple opportunities, for example, the UE may attempt LBT in symbols 0 and 7 as follows: If LBT succeeds at symbol 0, the rest of the time slot is used to transmit TB. However, if it fails, the UE may attempt LBT at symbol 7, and if successful, the transmission may be punctured or rate matched in the remaining 7 symbols of the time slot.

[0077] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to attempt LBT at different occasions through DCI signaling or higher layer signaling. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to start at a specific starting position, which is not necessarily at a slot boundary.

[0078] In a gNB-initiated shared COT with multiple DL-to-UL and UL-to-DL switching points, the UL symbols are discontinuous. Figure 2 As shown, for grant-based multi-slot PUSCH, in the first slot of the multi-slot PUSCH in a shared UL burst, the starting symbol in the first slot is determined by the starting symbol indicated by the DCI. In the case where the next few slots are also full uplink slots, the UE can continue uplink transmission in consecutive uplink slots. In the last slot of the multi-slot PUSCH in the shared UL burst, the UE must stop PUSCH transmission at the end symbol indicated by the DCI. In some embodiments, if the UE fails to pass the LBT in the slot, the UE must try LBT again in the next slot. Preferably, as Figure 2As shown, if the next slot is a full uplink slot, the UE may attempt LBT at symbol 0 of the next slot. In some embodiments, within the shared COT of the gNB, the UE may attempt to perform LBT at multiple opportunities within the shared resources, for example, the UE may attempt LBT in symbols 0, 7 of each shared slot: such that if LBT succeeds at symbol 0, the remaining slots are used to transmit TBs. However, if it fails, the UE may attempt LBT at symbol 7, and if successful, the transmission may be punctured or rate matched in the remaining 7 symbols of the slot. According to some embodiments, this same process may be applied to all remaining UL slots within the shared COT.

[0079] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to attempt LBT at different occasions through DCI signaling or higher layer signaling. In some embodiments, the UE may be configured to start at a specific starting position, which is not necessarily at a slot boundary.

[0080] In some implementations, the above concepts may be applicable to the case of multiple DL / UL switching points.

[0081] Time resources of CG PUSCH

[0082] In NR-U, when PUSCH is triggered due to the limitation of LBT, the UE cannot always acquire the channel. Therefore, methods to reduce LBT attempts may be beneficial.

[0083] In some embodiments, assuming that a higher layer (e.g., an RRC layer) configures time slots for PUSCH (CGPUSCH) based on configuration authorization, for example, there may be an N-bit bitmap. Time slots mapped to '1' in the bitmap may be used for CG PUSCH transmissions. In some embodiments, the bitmap is 40 bits long and is independent of the subcarrier spacing. In some embodiments, for time domain resources that coincide with DRS timing, the UE is not allowed to attempt CG, and it skips those resources, even if the UE is configured to perform CG transmissions. In some embodiments, the parameter set following the bitmap used to interpret is the parameter set configured for PUSCH.

[0084] Likewise, once the UE occupies the channel by successfully performing LBT, it is preferred to allow the UE to continuously transmit in multiple time slots mapped by the value '1' in the bitmap. Assuming that the information about the start symbol index and the end symbol index is indicated or configured, the two pieces of information may be signaled or jointly encoded. Figure 3As shown, in the first slot for channel occupation, the UE shall follow the indicated or configured start symbol, and the last symbol in the first slot is the last symbol of the slot, i.e., symbol 13. In the last slot for channel occupation, the UE shall follow the indicated or configured end symbol, and the first symbol in the last slot is symbol 0. For any intermediate slots (if any), they start at symbol 0 and end at symbol 13. In some embodiments, if the UE fails to pass LBT in a slot, the UE must try LBT again in the next slot. Preferably, as Figure 3 As shown, the UE may attempt LBT again after the indicated or configured starting symbol. In this way, priority may be given to a grant-based PUSCH scheduled to start from an earlier position than the CG PUSCH in the time slot.

[0085] In a gNB-initiated shared COT with multiple DL-to-UL and UL-to-DL switching points, the UL symbols are actually non-contiguous. In some implementations, if CG PUSCH is allowed in the COT, such as Figure 4 As shown, in the first time slot of the CGPUSCH in the shared UL burst, the start symbol in the first time slot is determined by the indicated or configured start symbol. In the case where the next few time slots are full uplink time slots, the UE can continue uplink transmission of CG PUSCH in consecutive uplink time slots. In the last time slot of the CG PUSCH in the shared UL burst, the UE must stop PUSCH transmission at the indicated or configured end symbol. In some embodiments, if the UE fails to pass the LBT in the time slot, the UE must try LBT again in the next time slot. Preferably, as Figure 4 As shown, the UE may try LBT again after the indicated or configured start symbol.

[0086] In some embodiments, if a UE schedules a multi-slot PUSCH within a shared COT with multiple DL-to-UL and UL-to-DL switching points, and if the UE is indicated as no-LBT, the UE may perform no-LBT to start its transmission in each UL burst used by the multi-slot PUSCH. Alternatively, the UE performs no-LBT only in the exact first UL burst of the multi-slot PUSCH, and the UE will attempt 25μs of LBT in other UL bursts. Alternatively, for other UL bursts, the UE performs no-LBT in the exact first burst of the multi-slot PUSCH, and if the starting symbol of the multi-slot PUSCH is indicated by DCI 2_0 as a flexible symbol, the UE still performs no-LBT, otherwise, if it is indicated by DCI 2_0 as an uplink symbol, the UE performs 25μs of LBT. Alternatively, in some embodiments, for other UL bursts, the UE performs no LBT in the exact first burst of the multi-slot PUSCH, if the starting symbol of the multi-slot PUSCH is indicated by DCI 2_0 as a flexible symbol or is the first uplink symbol indicated by DCI 2_0, the UE still performs no LBT; otherwise, if it is after the first uplink symbol indicated by DCI 2_0, the UE performs 25μs LBT. Alternatively, in some embodiments, for other UL bursts, the UE performs no LBT in the exact first burst of the multi-slot PUSCH, if the starting symbol of the multi-slot PUSCH follows a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol as indicated by DCI 2_0, the UE still performs no LBT, otherwise the UE performs 25us LBT. If the UE fails to pass LBT in the first slot of the UL burst of the multi-slot PUSCH, the UE always performs 25μs in the subsequent slots in the UL burst.

[0087] In some embodiments, the DMRS pattern in the time slots of the multi-slot PUSCH follows the PUSCH type indicated by the DCI format. Figure 5 As shown in (a), DMRS always starts from the first symbol in a time slot. Specifically, the entire time slot is used by PUSCH and is considered as PUSCH type B. In some embodiments, such as Figure 5 As shown in (b), the DMRS pattern in the first time slot follows the PUSCH type indicated by the DCI format, while the DMRS in the remaining time slots follows PUSCH type A. In some embodiments, PUSCH type A mapping is always used for CG transmission. In some embodiments, the CG UE has multiple starting symbols, which are a subset of the symbols before the DMRS when PUSCH type A is used (e.g., symbol #0, #1). In some embodiments, the CG UE attempts LBT only at the time slot boundary (symbol #0).

[0088] In some embodiments, if the PUSCH in the time slot is actually available for transmission, the CSI is preferentially carried on the last time slot of the multi-slot PUSCH. For example, the PUSCH in the time slot may be cancelled due to a conflict in symbol direction between, for example, the PUSCH in the time slot and the flexible symbols indicated by DCI 2_0. Due to LBT, the availability probability of the last time slot of the multi-slot PUSCH is higher than that of earlier time slots. If the last time slot is not available for transmission, the transmission of the CSI carried on the PUSCH of its previous time slot is checked. If the multi-slot PUSCH is divided into multiple shared UL bursts, the CSI may be carried on the last time slot of the shared UL burst with the maximum number of time slots.

[0089] In some embodiments, if no LBT is used to schedule multi-slot PUSCH, the CSI is piggybacked on the exact first slot of the multi-slot PUSCH.

[0090] Rate matching and reception of CG PUSCH

[0091] In NR-U, a TB may be repeated multiple times. In some embodiments, the CG-UCI is carried only in the first timeslot repetition of the TB. In some embodiments, the CG-UCI is carried in each timeslot. In some embodiments, the multiple timeslot repetitions of the TB may be mapped to more than one UL burst, and the CG-UCI is carried in the starting timeslot repetition of the TB on each UL burst. Multiple reasons may lead to timeslot repetitions in different UL bursts. The value '1' in the bitmap configured by the higher layer may not be continuous, so that the timeslots allocated to the CG PUSCH are discontinuous. In a shared COT with multiple DL / UL switching points, this can have multiple separate shared UL bursts.

[0092] In some embodiments, data transmission is rate matched around the CG-UCI. In some embodiments, UCI is included in each time slot and RV is specified according to each time slot. In some embodiments, if UCI is included only in the first time slot of a burst of repeated time slots, UCI includes an indication of the RV for the first time slot, and for another time slot, the traditional sequence is followed starting from the RV indicated in the UCI: for example, if UCI indicates RV=0, the next RV will be 2 3 1 0 2 31. In some embodiments, different sequences are used. In some embodiments, the number of repetitions within the COT is capped by the length of the MCOT, or by the remaining shared COT in the case of a shared COT. In some embodiments, if UCI is included only in the first time slot of a burst of repeated time slots, rate matching (RM) is completed according to the total number of available REs for the CG PUSCH in the repeated time slot set. In some embodiments, UCI includes an indication of the RV, which points to the starting position in the circular buffer of the RM, and the number of bits read out is determined by the total number of REs.

[0093] In some embodiments, a CG UE may perform LBT in multiple locations within a timeslot. A CG UE may try LBT in symbols 0, 7 as an example as follows: If LBT succeeds at symbol 0, the rest of the timeslot is used to transmit the TB. In some embodiments, if it fails, the UE may try LBT at symbol 7; and if successful, the transmission may be punctured, or rate matched in the remaining 7 symbols of the timeslot. In some embodiments, UCI is always carried in the second part of the timeslot, for example, in symbols 10, 11, and 12.

[0094] In some embodiments, the CG UE may be configured to attempt LBT at different times by activating / deactivating DCI or by higher layer signaling. In some embodiments, the CG UE may be configured to always start at a specific starting position, which is not necessarily at a timeslot boundary.

[0095] In some embodiments, the UE may transmit UCI only in the first slot of N consecutive slots within the MCOT and rate match the TB over the N consecutive slots. In some embodiments, the rate-matched transmission may be repeated M times. In some embodiments, both N and M are RRC configured.

[0096] In some embodiments, if the CG is allowed to perform time domain repetition and the UCI is carried only in the first repetition, the CG-UCI carries information related to the number of time domain repetitions performed.

[0097] In some embodiments, for the multiple timeslot repetitions of the TB, assuming a total number of REs for N timeslots, the UE performs rate matching on the TB. The N timeslots may be contiguous in time, or may be separated by other timeslots that are not configured for the CG, for example, by a bitmap configured by a higher layer. In addition, each of the N timeslots may be a complete uplink timeslot, or only a portion of the timeslot may be used as an uplink. The rate matching operation is repeated M times, so that the total number of timeslot repetitions of the TB is MN. Both N and M are RRC configured.

[0098] Starting position of GB PUSCH and CG PUSCH

[0099] In LTE LAA, GB PUSCH may start from one of four possible starting positions indicated by DCI, namely, starting at OS 0, starting 25μs after starting OS 0, starting 25μs + TA after starting OS 0, and after starting OS 1. In NR-U, the potential starting position may depend on the parameter set of PUSCH. NR supports both PUSCH type A and PUSCH type B. The DMRS for PUSCH type B is always located in the first symbol of the PUSCH resource, which is to reduce gNB processing time. Whereas PUSCH type A starts from symbol 0 and the DMRS is in symbol 2 or 3. In the selection of the starting position, the position of the DMRS in the PUSCH should also be considered.

[0100] In the following description, it is assumed that the starting symbol of SLIV is in symbol k.

[0101] In some embodiments, the starting position of the PUSCH is determined as an offset X on symbol k, i.e., "start of symbol k + offset X". In this way, the starting position is at or after the start of symbol k. For PUSCH type A, k is equal to 0, and it is beneficial to limit the potential value of X to be earlier than the first DMRS symbol. For PUSCH type B, the DMRS must be shifted to the right after the starting position. The shift of the DMRS can be UE-specific so that the DMRS is the first entire UL symbol after the starting position. Alternatively, the shifted DMRS can be determined by the maximum X that aligns the DMRS timing in the cell.

[0102] For example, possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 1. If an LBT of 25us is indicated, the UE may follow X=25μs or 25μs+TA; although no LBT is indicated, the UE may follow X=16μs or 16μs+TA. Alternatively, information about the LBT type and information about the starting position may be jointly encoded in the DCI. For SCS 15kHz and PUSCH type A, it implements the same behavior as LTE LAA. For SCS 15kHz and PUSCH type B, the DMRS symbol may be shifted to the right by at least one symbol. For SCS30kHz, it can still generate four starting positions in a single symbol with a shorter reserved signal. For the value X=25μs+TA, TA is the timing advance of the UE, and if the starting position in one symbol is restricted, the round-trip delay may be about 10μs, which is large enough for NR-U operation. For the value X=16μs+TA, the supported round-trip delay is even larger. Similarly, the DMRS symbol may be shifted to the right by at least one symbol. For SCS 60kHz, at least 2 symbols are required to generate a gap of 25μs LBT. If X is equal to 0, PUSCH can start from symbol k; if X is equal to 16μs, PUSCH starts from symbol k+1; if X is equal to 16μs+TA, PUSCH can start from symbol k+1 or k+2, depending on TA; and for other starting positions, PUSCH can start from symbol k+2. For PUSCH type B, DMRS symbols can be shifted right by one or two symbols according to X, or always shifted right by 2 symbols.

[0103] Table 1: Determine the offset X of the starting position

[0104]

[0105] Alternatively, possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 2. The interval between the maximum X and the minimum X is fixed, for example, equal to 1 symbol with a 15kHz SCS. For SCS 15kHz and PUSCH type B, the DMRS symbol may be shifted right by at least one symbol. For SCS 30kHz, the maximum X is 2 symbols. For PUSCH type B, the DMRS symbol may be shifted right by one or two symbols according to X, or always by 2 symbols. For SCS 60kHz, the maximum X is 4 symbols. For PUSCH type A, the DMRS symbol may be shifted right by zero, one, or two symbols according to X, or always by 1 or 2 symbols. For SCS 60KHz, the shift of one symbol is attributed to the original DMRS position in symbol 3. For SCS 60KHz, the shift of two symbols is attributed to the original DMRS position in symbol 2. For PUSCH type B, the DMRS symbol may be shifted right by two or four symbols according to X, or always by 4 symbols.

[0106] Table 2: Determine the offset X of the starting position

[0107]

[0108] Alternatively, possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 3. For SCS 15kHz and 30kHz, the interval between the maximum X and the minimum X is fixed to 1 symbol with 15kHz SCS. The interval between the maximum X and the minimum X is 2 symbols with 60kHz SCS. This avoids the impact on the DMRS symbol position of PUSCH type A. For SCS 15kHz and PUSCH type B, the DMRS symbol can be shifted to the right by at least one symbol. For SCS 30kHz, the maximum X is 2 symbols. For SCS 30kHz and PUSCH type B, the DMRS symbol can be shifted to the right by one or two symbols according to X, or always shifted to the right by 2 symbols.

[0109] Table 3: Determine the offset X of the starting position

[0110]

[0111] In some embodiments, the starting position of the PUSCH is determined as an offset X on symbol k-1 or k-2 or k-4, i.e., "start of symbol ka + offset X, a=1 or 2 or 4". In this way, the starting position is no later than the starting symbol of symbol k. For PUSCH type B, the starting position is always no later than the starting symbol of the PUSCH, so that the DMRS symbol position does not change.

[0112] For example, possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 1. The period of CCA before the start symbol of PUSCH is guaranteed by the gNB scheduling. For PUSCH type B, not used = 0 so that PUSCH can start from its first symbol k instead of k-1 or k-2. For SCS 15kHz and 30kHz, use a equal to 1. For SCS 60kHz, if 25us LBT is indicated, use a equal to 2. If no LBT is indicated, a can be equal to 1. If the TA is relatively large, a equal to 2 is still required for no LBT.

[0113] Alternatively, for SCS 15kHz, the possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 4, and for SCS 30kHz and 60kHz, the possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 1. In this way, each possible starting position is aligned for a different SCS respectively. The period of CCA before the start symbol of PUSCH is guaranteed by gNB scheduling. For PUSCH type B, X=0 is not used so that PUSCH can start from its first symbol k instead of k-1 or k-2. For SCS 15kHz and 30kHz, a equal to 1 is used. For SCS 60kHz, if 25us LBT is indicated, a equal to 2 is used. If no LBT is indicated, a can be 1. If TA is relatively large, a equal to 2 is still required for no LBT.

[0114] Table 4: Determine the offset X of the starting position

[0115]

[0116] *Y is equal to the length of 1 symbol with SCS 30kHz

[0117] Alternatively, possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 2. For SCS 15kHz, a is equal to 1; for SCS 30kHz, a is equal to 2; for SCS 60kHz, a is equal to 4. However, there may be an entire UL symbol before symbol k. Such UL symbols may only transmit filler signals, or the actual starting symbol of the PUSCH is shifted to the earliest entire UL symbol. Alternatively, the starting position of the entire UL symbol before symbol k is not applicable.

[0118] In some embodiments, for PUSCH type A, the above implementation is used to determine the starting position as "the start of symbol k + offset X"; for PUSCH type B, the above implementation is used to determine the starting position as "the start of symbol ka + offset X, a = 1 or 2 or 4".

[0119] In some embodiments, possible values ​​of X are provided in Table 2. For PUSCH type A, for SCS 15kHz, a is equal to 0; for SCS 30kHz, a is equal to 0; for SCS 60kHz, a is equal to 2. For SCS 60kHz, PUSCH will start from symbol k+2 with the maximum value X as the earliest symbol of DMRS, so no special treatment of DMRS is required. For SCS 60kHz and X=0, the starting symbol is k-2, a fill signal can be transmitted, or X=0 is not applicable. For PUSCH type B, for SCS 15kHz, a is equal to 1, the DMRS symbol position is not changed; for SCS 30kHz, a is equal to 1, PUSCH will start from symbol k+1 with the maximum value X, so the DMRS symbol should be shifted to the right by 1 symbol; for SCS 60kHz, a is equal to 2, PUSCH will start from symbol k+2 with the maximum value X, so the DMRS symbol should be shifted to the right by 2 symbols. For PUSCH type B, X=0 is not used so that PUSCH can start at its first symbol k at the earliest.

[0120] In some embodiments, potential starting positions are generated within 1 or 2 symbols. If the CG PUSCH occupies the full bandwidth and is outside the COT initiated by the gNB, potential starting positions are generated within 1 symbol for SCS 15kHz and 30kHz, and within 2 symbols for SCS 60kHz. For SCS 15kHz, the offset X can be 16us, 25us, 34us, 43us, 52us, 61us, 1 symbol; for SCS 30kHz, the offset X can be 16us, 25us, 1 symbol; for SCS 60kHz, the offset X can be 16us, 25us, 2 symbols. Alternatively, for SCS 60kHz, the offset X can be fixed to 2 symbols. If the CG PUSCH occupies the full bandwidth and is within the COT initiated by the gNB, only those starting positions with X greater than 25us are supported. For SCS 15kHz, the offset X can be 34μs, 43μs, 52μs, 61μs, 1 symbol; for SCS30kHz, the offset X can be 1 symbol; for SCS 60KHz, the offset X can be 2 symbols. If it is PUSCH type B, the offset X of SCS 30kHz and 60kHz can be such that it starts just from the first symbol of its PUSCH. Alternatively, only those starting positions where X is greater than 16μs are supported, because GB PUSCH can be scheduled preferentially without LBT. If CG PUSCH does not occupy all interlaces of frequency resources, the exact value X can be configured by the higher layer.

[0121] In some embodiments, potential starting positions are always generated within 1 symbol duration of SCS 15kHz. If CG PUSCH occupies the full bandwidth and is outside the COT initiated by the gNB, the potential starting position offset X within 1 symbol of SCS 15kHz can be 16μs, 25μs, 34μs, 43μs, 52μs, 61μs, 1 symbol. The same X value also applies to SCS30kHz and 60kHz. If CG PUSCH occupies the full bandwidth and is within the COT initiated by the gNB, only those starting positions with X greater than 25μs are supported, that is, the offset X can be 34μs, 43μs, 52μs, 61μs, 1 symbol. Alternatively, only those starting positions with X greater than 16μs are supported because GB PUSCH can be scheduled preferentially without LBT, that is, the offset X can be 25μs, 34μs, 43μs, 52μs, 61μs, 1 symbol. If CG PUSCH does not occupy all interlaces of frequency resources, the exact value of X may be higher layer configured.

[0122] In some embodiments, for 15KHz subcarrier spacing and for CG PUSCH that occupies full or partial bandwidth and performs transmission within the COT of the gNB, the following starting positions are allowed: 16μs, 25μs, 34μs, 43μs, 52μs, 61μs, 1 symbol. For 30KHz subcarrier spacing and for CG PUSCH that occupies full or partial bandwidth and performs transmission within the COT of the gNB, the following starting positions are allowed: 16μs, 25μs, 1 symbol. For 60KHz subcarrier spacing and for CG PUSCH that occupies full or partial bandwidth and performs transmission within the COT of the gNB, the first N symbols may be used as the starting position starting from the 2nd symbol. N is predefined or configured through RRC signaling.

[0123] In some embodiments, for 15KHz subcarrier spacing and for CG PUSCH that occupies full or partial bandwidth and performs transmission outside the COT of the gNB, the following starting positions are allowed: 34μs, 43μs, 52μs, 61μs, 1 symbol. For 30KHz subcarrier spacing and for CGPUSCH that occupies full or partial bandwidth and performs transmission within the COT of the gNB, the following starting positions are allowed: 1st symbol + 16μs, 1st symbol + 25μs, 2nd symbol. For 60KHz subcarrier spacing and for CG PUSCH that occupies full or partial bandwidth and performs transmission within the COT of the gNB, the first N symbols can be used as the starting position starting from the 2nd symbol. N is predefined or configured through RRC signaling.

[0124] In some embodiments, for SCS 15kHz subcarrier spacing and CGPUSCH occupying full or partial bandwidth, the following starting positions are allowed:

[0125] a. Outside the MCOT of gNB: {16,25,34,43,52,61,OS#1}

[0126] b. Within MCOT of gNb: {34,43,52,61,OS#1}.

[0127] For SCS 30KHz, the same offsets as for SCS 15kHz are reused and they are spread over two OFDM symbols:

[0128] a. Outside the MCOT of gNB: {16,25,34,43,52,61,OS#1}

[0129] b. Within MCOT of gNb: {34,43,52,61,OS#1}.

[0130] For SCS 60KHz, the same offset as for SCS 15kHz is reused until two OFDM symbols:

[0131] a. Outside the MCOT of gNB: {16,25,34,OS#2}. Alternatively, since 34us is almost the same as the duration of 2 symbols, the offset can be {16,25,OS#2}.

[0132] b. Within MCOT of gNb: {34, OS#2}. Alternatively, the offset can be {OS#2}.

[0133] For SCS 30kHz and 60kHz, the UCI of CG carries an indication of whether the first two symbols are used in the entire two bits, which indicates: i) whether CG data transmission starts from symbol #0; ii) whether CG data transmission starts from symbol #1, iii) or whether CG data transmission starts from symbol #2. For example, "00" -> SCH-UL starts from symbol 0; "01" -> SCH-UL starts from symbol 1; "10" -> SCH-UL starts from symbol 2; "11" -> reserved.

[0134] In some embodiments, a table of SLIVs is configured for potential time domain resources. For GB PUSCH, the UE just follows the starting symbol indicated by each row of the table as the starting symbol of the GB PUSCH. And for CG PUSCH, an additional offset b is added to the starting symbol indicated by a row of the table. For example, the starting symbol is indicated by the row as k, and then the starting symbol of the CG PUSCH is exactly symbol k+b. In this way, even if the same set of starting position offsets X is used, it still gives GB PUSCH priority over CG PUSCH. In some embodiments, a separate table of SLIVs can configure CG PUSCH from GB PUSCH. In this way, the SLIVs in the table for CG PUSCH can be managed to give it lower priority than GBPUSCH.

[0135] In some embodiments, within a gNB-initiated shared COT, no LBT may be indicated in the DCI for GB PUSCH, however, if CG PUSCH within the COT is allowed, only a 25 μs LBT is used for CG PUSCH. This approach gives priority to GB PUSCH. Once GB PUSCH is not transmitted or the signal strength of GB PUSCH is not sufficient to fail CCA for CG PUSCH, CG PUSCH may still be transmitted.

[0136] In some embodiments, Figures 6 to 15 The electronic device, network, system, chip or component or part thereof or specific implementation in some other figures of this document may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods described herein or part thereof. Fig.16 One such process is depicted in . Fig.16 An exemplary flow chart 1600 is depicted for practicing various embodiments discussed herein, for example, configuring operation of a user equipment (UE) for authorized PUSCH transmissions and configured authorized PUSCH transmissions in a system operating in an unlicensed spectrum. By way of example and not limitation, features of the flow chart may be Figure 6 UE 601a or 601b or Fig. 9 The network controller circuit 935 of the infrastructure equipment 900 is executed.

[0137] At 1610, the network controller circuit 935 receives configuration data via the radio front end module 915. For example, the signal may be a downlink control information (DCI) signal or higher layer signaling.

[0138] At 1620, the network controller circuit 935 transmits data over one or more time slots using a single uplink grant based on the received configuration data, wherein the data is transmitted in a shared channel occupancy time (COT) with an associated identified Listen Before Talk (LBT) process. The transmission may be performed via the radio front end module 915.

[0139] In some embodiments, Figures 6 to 15 The electronic device, network, system, chip or component or part thereof or specific implementation in some other figures of this document may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods described herein or part thereof. Fig.17 One such process is depicted in . Fig.17 Depicted are exemplary methods for practicing various embodiments discussed herein, for example, operations of a user equipment (UE) for authorized PUSCH transmissions and / or configured authorized PUSCH transmissions in a system operating in an unlicensed spectrum. By way of example and not limitation, the features of the flowchart, method 1700, may be performed by Figure 6 UE 601a or 601b or Fig. 9 The network controller circuit 935 of the infrastructure equipment 900 is executed.

[0140] At 1710 , the network controller circuit 935 receives configuration data from a source device associated with a source cell (eg, via a downlink control information (DCI) signal or a higher layer signal).

[0141] At 1720, the network controller circuit 935 determines a starting position and an ending position based on the configuration data, wherein the starting position and the ending position are used to transmit data in multiple time slots in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) within a shared channel occupancy time (COT), wherein the starting position depends on a first pre-talk listen (LBT) result.

[0142] At 1730, the network controller circuit 935 performs a first LBT.

[0143] At 1740, the network controller circuit 935 determines whether the first LBT is successful. When the first LBT is successful, the method 1700 proceeds to 1745. Otherwise, the method 1700 optionally proceeds from 1740 to 1747 or from 1740 to 1750.

[0144] At 1745, the network controller circuit 935 transmits data at a starting position in an available time slot of the COT (e.g., continuously in multiple time slots corresponding to multiple uplink time slots of the shared COT; and / or when the first LBT occurs at the first symbol of an available point, transmit data in the remaining symbols of the available time slots).

[0145] At 1747, when the first LBT is unsuccessful, the network controller circuit 935 continuously transmits data in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT, wherein an available time slot occurs after the time slot corresponding to the first LBT.

[0146] At 1750, the network controller circuit 935 performs a second LBT.

[0147] At 1755, the network controller circuit 935 determines whether the second LBT at the first symbol of the next available time slot is successful. When the second LBT is successful, the method 1700 proceeds to 1760. Otherwise, the method 1700 may return to 1730 to perform another LBT.

[0148] At 1760, the network controller circuit 935 transmits data in the remaining symbols of the next available time slot, wherein the data is discontinuous with the data transmitted in the available time slot.

[0149] At 1770, the network controller circuit 935 determines whether the second LBT at the second symbol of the available time slot is successful. When the second LBT is successful, the method 1700 proceeds to 1775. Otherwise, the method 1700 may return to 1730 to perform another LBT.

[0150] At 1775, the network controller circuit 935 transmits the data, wherein the transmission is punctured or rate matched in the remaining symbols of the available time slot.

[0151] System and implementation

[0152] Figure 6 An exemplary architecture of a network system 600 according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an example system 600 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0153] like Figure 6As shown, system 600 includes UE 601a and UE 601b (collectively referred to as "UE 601"). In this example, UE 601 is shown as a smart phone (e.g., a handheld touch screen 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 a consumer electronic device, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a feature phone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, a wireless handheld device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), an in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) device, an instrument panel (IC), a head-up display (HUD) device, an on-board diagnostic (OBD) device, a dashtop mobile equipment (DME), a mobile data terminal (MDT), an electronic engine management system (EEMS), an electronic / engine electronic control unit (ECU), an electronic / engine electronic control module (ECM), an embedded system, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system (EMS), a networked or "smart" appliance, an MTC device, an M2M, an IoT device, etc.

[0154] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 601 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0155] UE 601 may be configured to connect, e.g., be communicatively coupled, to RAN 610. In an embodiment, RAN 610 may be an NG RAN or 5G RAN, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to RAN 610 operating in NR or 5G system 600, while the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to RAN 610 operating in LTE or 4G system 600. UE 601 utilizes connections (or channels) 603 and 604, respectively, each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0156] In this example, connections 603 and 604 are shown as air interfaces to achieve communication coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, the UE 601 may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 605. The ProSe interface 605 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface 605, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0157] UE 601b is shown as being configured to access AP 606 (also referred to as "WLAN node 606," "WLAN 606," "WLAN terminal 606," "WT 606," etc.) via connection 607. Connection 607 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 606 will include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 606 is shown connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 601b, RAN 610, and AP 606 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 601b in RRC_CONNECTED state being configured by RAN nodes 611a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 601b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 607) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent through connection 607. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0158] The RAN 610 includes one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 611a and 611b (collectively referred to as "RAN nodes 611") that enable connections 603 and 604. As used herein, the terms "access node", "access point", etc. may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functions for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 611 (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system 600, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 611 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 600. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 611 may be implemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station and / or a low power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0159] In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN node 611 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In some embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splitting, such as PDCP splitting, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 611; MAC / PHY splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 611; or "lower PHY" splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and upper portions of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portions of the PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes 611. The virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the RAN node 611 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, individual RAN nodes 611 may represent a plurality of RAN nodes 611 connected to the RAN via individual F1 interfaces ( Figure 6 In these embodiments, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., Fig. 9), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 610 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. In addition or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 611 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a next generation eNB that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to the UE 601 and is connected to the 5GC (e.g., Figure 8 CN 820) RAN node.

[0160] In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN nodes 611 may be an RSU or act as an RSU. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the road side that provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE 601 (vUE 601). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct Short Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low latency communications as well as other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or a backhaul network.

[0161] Any of the RAN nodes 611 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 601. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 611 may fulfill various logical functions of the RAN 610, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0162] In an embodiment, UE 601 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of RAN nodes 611 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0163] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 611 to the UE 601, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice, which makes wireless resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0164] According to various embodiments, UEs 601, 602 and RAN nodes 611, 612 communicate (e.g., send and receive) data via a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, and the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz band.

[0165] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UE 601, 602 and the RAN nodes 611, 612 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these specific implementations, the UE 601, 602 and the RAN nodes 611, 612 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0166] LBT is a mechanism for equipment (e.g., UE 601, 602, RAN nodes 611, 612, etc.) to sense a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy on an expected transmission band over a period of time, and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0167] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs use a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 601 or 602, AP 606, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the same time, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid conflicts. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a conflict occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have a LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS of LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0168] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers can be different for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0169] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may be different, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL, and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing PCCs may require UE 601, 602 to undergo switching. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in an unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and the LAA SCells are assisted by the PCells operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0170] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to the UE 601. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It may also inform the UE 601 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 601b within a cell) may be performed on any of the RAN nodes 611 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 601. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the UEs 601.

[0171] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0172] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, referred to as EREG. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0173] RAN nodes 611 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 612. In embodiments where system 600 is an LTE system (eg, when CN 620 is a Figure 7 ), the interface 612 may be an X2 interface 612. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 611 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC 620, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC 620. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface, and may be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 601 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 601; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0174] When system 600 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN 620 is Figure 8In an implementation scheme of the 5GC 820 in the 5GC 620, the interface 612 may be an Xn interface 612. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 611 (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 620, between a RAN node 611 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to the 5GC 620, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC 620. In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for the UE 601 in a connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in a connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 611. The mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 611 to the new (target) serving RAN node 611; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 611 and the new (target) serving RAN node 611. The protocol stack of Xn-U may include a transport network layer built on an Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of a UDP and / or IP layer for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0175] RAN 610 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network—in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 620. CN 620 may include a plurality of network elements 622 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / users (e.g., users of UE 601) connected to CN 620 via RAN 610. The components of CN 620 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above-mentioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 620 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 620 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0176] Generally speaking, the application server 630 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 630 may also be configured to support one or more communication services for the UE 601 via the EPC 620 (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.).

[0177] In an embodiment, CN 620 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC 620" or the like), and RAN 610 may be connected to CN 620 via an NG interface 613. In an embodiment, NG interface 613 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 614, which carries traffic data between RAN node 611 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 615, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 611 and AMF. Figure 8 An implementation of CN 620 as 5GC 620 is discussed in more detail.

[0178] In an embodiment, CN 620 may be a 5G CN (referred to as "5GC 620", etc.), while in other embodiments, CN 620 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 620 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC 620", etc.), RAN 610 may be connected to CN 620 via an S1 interface 613. In an embodiment, S1 interface 613 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 614, which carries traffic data between RAN node 611 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 615, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 611 and MME. Figure 7 An exemplary architecture is shown in which CN 620 is an EPC 620 .

[0179] Figure 7 FIG. 7 shows an exemplary architecture of a system 700 including a first CN 720 according to various embodiments. In this example, the system 700 may implement the LTE standard, wherein the CN 720 is a Figure 6 In addition, UE 701 can communicate with Figure 6 The UE 601 is the same as or similar to the UE 601, and the E-UTRAN 710 may be Figure 6 The CN 720 may be a RAN that is the same as or similar to the RAN 610 of the mobile station, and may include the RAN node 611 discussed previously. The CN 720 may include an MME 721, an S-GW 722, a P-GW 723, an HSS 724, and an SGSN 725.

[0180] The MME 721 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional SGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the current location of the UE 701. The MME 721 may perform various MM procedures to manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also referred to as "EPS MM" or "EMM" in an E-UTRAN system) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data stores, etc. for maintaining knowledge of the current location of the UE 701, providing user identity confidentiality to users / subscribers, and / or performing other similar services. Each UE 701 and MME 721 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and when the attachment procedure is successfully completed, an MM context may be established in the UE 701 and the MME 721. The MM context may be a data structure or database object that stores MM-related information of the UE 701. The MME 721 may be coupled to the HSS 724 via an S6a reference point, to the SGSN 725 via an S3 reference point, and to the S-GW 722 via an S11 reference point.

[0181] SGSN 725 may be a node that serves UE 701 by tracking the location of individual UE 701 and performing security functions. In addition, SGSN 725 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 721; handling of UE 701 time zone functions, as specified by MME 721; and MME selection for handover to E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between MME 721 and SGSN 725 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in an idle state and / or an active state.

[0182] The HSS 724 may include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entities in handling communication sessions. The EPC 720 may include one or several HSSs 724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 724 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing solutions, location dependencies, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 724 and the MME 721 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing users to access the EPC 720 between the HSS 724 and the MME 721.

[0183] The S-GW 722 may terminate the S1 interface 613 towards the RAN 710 (at Figure 7 The S-GW 722 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies. The S11 reference point between the S-GW 722 and the MME 721 may provide a control plane between the MME 721 and the S-GW 722. The S-GW 722 may be coupled to the P-GW 723 via the S5 reference point.

[0184] The P-GW 723 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN 730. The P-GW 723 may communicate with the PDN 730 via the IP interface 625 (see, e.g., Figure 6 ) routes data packets between EPC 720 and external networks such as a network including an application server 630 (alternatively referred to as an "AF"). In an embodiment, P-GW 723 can communicate with the EPC 720 via IP communication interface 625 (see, e.g., Figure 6 ) is communicatively coupled to an application server ( Figure 6 Application server 630 or Figure 7The S5 reference point between the P-GW 723 and the S-GW 722 may provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 723 and the S-GW 722. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 722 relocation due to the mobility of the UE 701 and whether the S-GW 722 needs to be connected to a non-colocated P-GW 723 for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW 723 may also include nodes for policy implementation and charging data collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). In addition, the SGi reference point between the P-GW 723 and the packet data network (PDN) 730 may be an operator external public, private PDN, or an internal operator packet data network, for example, for providing IMS services. The P-GW 723 may be coupled to the PCRF 726 via a Gx reference point.

[0185] PCRF 726 is a policy and charging control element of EPC 720. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 726 in a domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE 701. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of UE 701: a domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). PCRF 726 may be communicatively coupled to application server 730 via P-GW 723. Application server 730 may signal PCRF 726 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate QoS and charging parameters. PCRF 726 may configure the rule to a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI, which function starts QoS and charging as specified by application server 730. The Gx reference point between PCRF 726 and P-GW 723 may allow for the transfer of QoS policies and charging rules from PCRF 726 to PCEF in P-GW 723. The Rx reference point may reside between PDN 730 (or "AF 730") and PCRF 726.

[0186] Figure 8The architecture of a system 800 including a second CN 820 according to various embodiments is shown. The system 800 is shown to include a UE 801, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed UE 601 and UE 701; an (R) AN 810, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed RAN 610 and RAN 710, and which may include the previously discussed RAN node 611; and a DN 803, which may be, for example, an operator service, Internet access, or a 3rd party service; and a 5GC 820. The 5GC 820 may include an AUSF 822; an AMF 821; an SMF 824; an NEF 823; a PCF 826; an NRF 825; an UDM 827; an AF 828; an UPF 802; and an NSSF 829.

[0187] UPF 802 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with DN 803, and a branch point to support multi-host PDU sessions. UPF 802 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane portion of policy rules, lawful interception of packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) on the user plane, perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 802 may include an uplink classifier for supporting routing of traffic flows to data networks. DN 803 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. DN 803 may include or be similar to the application server 630 discussed previously. UPF 802 may interact with SMF 824 via the N4 reference point between SMF 824 and UPF 802.

[0188] The AUSF 822 may store data for authentication of the UE 801 and handle authentication-related functions. The AUSF 822 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 822 may communicate with the AMF 821 via the N12 reference point between the AMF 821 and the AUSF 822; and may communicate with the UDM 827 via the N13 reference point between the UDM 827 and the AUSF 822. In addition, the AUSF 822 may present an interface based on the Nausf service.

[0189] AMF 821 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering UE 801, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 821 may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between AMF 821 and SMF 824. AMF 821 may provide transport for SM messages between UE 801 and SMF 824, and act as a transparent pro14 for routing SM messages. AMF 821 may also provide a transport for UE 801 and SMSF ( Figure 8 801). AMF 821 may act as a SEAF, which may include interaction with AUSF 822 and UE 801, receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 801 authentication process. In the case of USIM-based authentication, AMF 821 may retrieve security material from AUSF822. AMF 821 may also include an SCM function that receives keys from SEA for deriving access network-specific keys. In addition, AMF 821 may be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between (R)AN 810 and AMF821; and AMF 821 may be a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0190] AMF 821 may also support NAS signaling with UE 801 over the N3 IWF interface. N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. N3IWF may be the termination point for the N2 interface between (R)AN 810 and AMF 821 for the control plane, and may be the termination point for the N3 reference point between (R)AN 810 and UPF 802 for the user plane. Thus, AMF 821 may process N2 signaling for PDU sessions and QoS from SMF 824 and AMF 821, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, mark N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to N3 packet markings, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such markings received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 801 and the AMF 821 via the N1 reference point between the UE 801 and the AMF 821, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 801 and the UPF 802. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 801. The AMF 821 may present an interface based on the Namf service, and may be an N14 reference point between the two AMF 821 and the AMF 821 and the 5G-EIR ( Figure 8 The termination point of the N17 reference point between the two (not shown).

[0191] UE 801 may need to register with AMF 821 in order to receive network services. RM is used to register UE 801 with the network (e.g., AMF 821) or deregister the UE, and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., AMF 821). UE 801 may operate in the RM-REGISTERED state or the RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, UE 801 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 821 does not maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 801, so AMF 821 cannot reach UE 801. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 801 is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 821 may maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 801, so AMF 821 can reach UE 801. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 801 may perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (e.g., to notify the network that UE 801 is still active), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0192] AMF 821 may store one or more RM contexts for UE 801, each RM context being associated with a specific access to the network. An RM context may be a data structure, a database object, or the like, which indicates or stores, among other things, a registration status and a periodic update timer for each access type. AMF 821 may also store a 5GC MM context which may be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. In various embodiments, AMF 821 may store CE mode B restriction parameters for UE 801 in an associated MM context or RM context. AMF 821 may also derive values ​​from usage setting parameters of the UE already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when necessary.

[0193] The CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 801 and the AMF 821 over the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 801 and the CN 820, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., an RRC connection or a UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPP access) and an N2 connection of the UE 801 between the AN (e.g., the RAN 810) and the AMF 821. The UE 801 may operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 801 operates in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE 801 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 821 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 810 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 801. When the UE 801 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state / mode, the UE 801 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 821 through the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 810 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 801. Establishing an N2 connection between the (R)AN 810 and the AMF 821 may cause the UE 801 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when the N2 signaling between the (R)AN 810 and the AMF 821 is released, the UE 801 may transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

[0194] SMF 824 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP functions; configuring traffic steering of UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface toward the policy control function; control portion of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system); terminating the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to AN via AMF over N2; and determining the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between a UE 801 and a data network (DN) 803 identified by a data network name (DNN). A PDU session may be established upon request by UE 801, modified upon request by UE 801 and 5GC 820, and released upon request by UE 801 and 5GC 820 using NAS SM signaling exchanged over the N1 reference point between UE 801 and SMF 824. Upon request from an application server, 5GC 820 may trigger a specific application in UE 801. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE 801 may pass the trigger message (or relevant parts / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in UE 801. The identified applications in UE 801 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF 824 may check whether the UE 801 request complies with user subscription information associated with UE 801. In this regard, SMF 824 may retrieve and / or request to receive update notifications about SMF 824 level subscription data from UDM 827.

[0195] SMF 824 may include the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system, in VPLMN); and support interaction with external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication through external DN. In a roaming scenario, an N16 reference point between two SMFs 824 may be included in the system 800, which may be located between an SMF 824 in a visited network and another SMF 824 in a home network. In addition, SMF 824 may present an interface based on Nsmf services.

[0196] NEF 823 may provide a device for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 828), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, NEF 823 may authenticate, authorize and / or restrict AF. NEF 823 may also convert information exchanged with AF 828 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 823 may convert between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 823 may also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on the exposure capabilities of other network functions. The information may be stored at NEF 823 as structured data, or stored at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information may then be re-exposed to other NFs and AFs by NEF 823, and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 823 may present an interface based on Nnef services.

[0197] NRF 825 may support service discovery functionality, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 825 also maintains information of available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, the term "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of a program code. In addition, NRF 825 may present an interface based on Nnrf services.

[0198] The PCF 826 may provide for control plane functions to enforce their policy rules, and may also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF 826 may also implement a FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 827. The PCF 826 may communicate with the AMF 821 via the N15 reference point between the PCF 826 and the AMF 821, which may include the PCF 826 in the visited network and the AMF 821 in the case of a roaming scenario. The PCF 826 may communicate with the AF 828 via the N5 reference point between the PCF 826 and the AF 828; and communicate with the SMF 824 via the N7 reference point between the PCF 826 and the SMF 824. The system 800 and / or the CN 820 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF 826 (in the home network) and the PCF 826 in the visited network. In addition, the PCF 826 may present an interface based on Npcf services.

[0199] UDM 827 may process subscription-related information to support the handling of communication sessions by network entities, and may store subscription data of UE 801. For example, subscription data may be transmitted between UDM 827 and AMF via an N8 reference point between UDM 827 and AMF 821. UDM 827 may include two parts: application FE and UDR ( Figure 8 FE and UDR are not shown). UDR can store subscription data and policy data of UDM 827 and PCF 826, and / or structured data for exposure and application data of NEF 823 (including PFD for application detection, application request information of multiple UE 801). Nudr service-based interface can be presented by UDR 221 to allow UDM 827, PCF 826 and NEF 823 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete and subscribe to notifications of related data changes in UDR. UDM may include UDM-FE, which is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. In different transactions, several different front ends may serve the same user. UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in UDR, and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management and subscription management. UDR can interact with SMF 824 via the N10 reference point between UDM 827 and SMF 824. UDM 827 may also support SMS management, where SMS-FE implements similar application logic as described above. In addition, UDM 827 may present an interface based on Nudm services.

[0200] AF 828 can provide the influence of applications on traffic routing, provide access to NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. NCE can be a mechanism that allows 5GC 820 and AF 828 to provide information to each other via NEF 823, which can be used for edge computing implementation. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the UE 801 access point of the attachment to achieve effective service delivery through reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transmission network. For edge computing implementation, 5GC can select UPF 802 near UE 801 and perform traffic steering from UPF 802 to DN 803 via N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by AF 828. In this way, AF 828 can affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 828 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow AF 828 to interact directly with the relevant NF. In addition, AF 828 can present an interface based on Naf services.

[0201] NSSF 829 may select a set of network slice instances to serve UE 801. If necessary, NSSF 829 may also determine the allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI. NSSF 829 may also determine the AMF set, or a list of candidate AMF 821, to serve UE 801 based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying NRF 825. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE 801 may be triggered by AMF 821, where UE 801 registers by interacting with NSSF 829, which may cause AMF 821 to change. NSSF 829 may interact with AMF 821 via the N22 reference point between AMF 821 and NSSF 829; and may communicate with AMF 821 via the N31 reference point ( Figure 8 The NSSF 829 may communicate with another NSSF 829 in the visited network (not shown). In addition, the NSSF 829 may present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0202] As discussed previously, CN 820 may include SMSF, which may be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relaying SM messages from / to other entities, such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers, to / from UE 801. SMS may also interact with AMF 821 and UDM 827 for notification procedures that UE 801 is available for SMS transmission (e.g., setting a UE unreachable flag and notifying UDM 827 when UE 801 is available for SMS).

[0203] CN 120 may also include Figure 8 Other elements not shown, such as data storage system / architecture, 5G-EIR, SEPP, etc. The data storage system may include SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF may communicate with any NF and UDSF ( Figure 8 The N18 reference point between the NF and the NF (not shown) stores or retrieves unstructured data in or from the UDSF (e.g., UE context). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing their respective unstructured data, or individual NFs may each have their own UDSF located at or near a single NF. In addition, the UDSF may present an interface based on the Nudsf service ( Figure 8 Not shown). 5G-EIR may be a NF that checks the status of PEI to determine whether to blacklist a specific equipment / entity from the network; and SEPP may be a non-transparent pro14 that performs topology hiding, message filtering and policing on the inter-PLMN control plane interface.

[0204] Additionally, there may be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between NF services in a NF; however, for clarity, Figure 8These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one example, CN 820 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between an MME (e.g., MME 721) and AMF 821 to enable intercommunication between CN 820 and CN 720. Other example interfaces / reference points may include an interface based on N5g-EIR services presented by 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between an NRF in a visited network and an NRF in a home network; and an N31 reference point between an NSSF in a visited network and an NSSF in a home network.

[0205] Fig. 9 An example of infrastructure equipment 900 according to various embodiments is shown. Infrastructure equipment 900 (or "system 900") can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node (such as the RAN node 611 and / or AP 606 shown and described previously), an application server 630, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, system 900 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0206] System 900 includes application circuit 905, baseband circuit 910, one or more radio front end modules 915, memory circuit 920, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 925, power tee circuit 930, network controller circuit 935, network interface connector 940, satellite positioning circuit 945 and user interface 950. In some embodiments, device 900 may include additional elements, such as, for example, memory / storage, display, camera, sensor, or input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the following components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuit may be included separately in more than one device for CRAN, vBBU or other similar implementations.

[0207] The application circuit 905 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, 2C or general programmable serial interface module, real-time clock (RTC), timer-counter including interval timer and watchdog timer, general input / output (I / O or IO), memory card controller such as secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar products, universal serial bus (USB) interface, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface and joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of application circuit 905 can be coupled with memory / storage element or can include memory / storage element, and can be configured to execute instructions stored in memory / storage element to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 900. In some embodiments, memory / storage element can be on-chip memory circuit, which can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0208] The processor of the application circuit 905 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 905 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 905 may include one or more Intel FPGAs. 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(TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, system 900 may not utilize application circuit 905, and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0209] In some implementations, the application circuit 905 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, and the like; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, the circuitry of the application circuit 905 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such an embodiment, the circuitry of the application circuit 905 may include a memory unit (e.g., an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a static memory (e.g., a static random access memory (SRAM), an anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in a look-up table (LUT), etc.

[0210] Baseband circuit 910 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Figure X T discusses the various hardware electronic components of baseband circuit 910.

[0211] The user interface circuit 950 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system 900, or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the system 900. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0212] The radio front end module (RFEM) 915 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Figure XThe antenna array 1111 of T) and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative implementation, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 915 combining both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0213] The memory circuit 920 may include one or more of the following: a volatile memory including a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and a non-volatile memory (NVM) including a high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as a "flash memory"), a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with and The memory circuit 920 may be implemented as one or more of: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0214] The PMIC 925 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 930 may provide power extracted from a network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure equipment 900 using a single cable.

[0215] The network controller circuit 935 may provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on a GRE tunnel, Ethernet based on a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. A physical connection may be used to provide a network connection to / from the infrastructure equipment 900 via a network interface connector 940, which may be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 935 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 935 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0216] The positioning circuit 945 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States, the Global Navigation System (GLONASS) of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the Beidou Navigation Satellite System of China, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) of Japan, the Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS) of France, etc. for navigation), etc. The positioning circuit 945 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 945 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation and timing, which uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 945 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 910 and / or RFEM 915 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 945 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 905, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN node 611, etc.), etc.

[0217] Fig. 9 The components shown may communicate with each other using interface circuitry that may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0218] Fig.10 An example of a platform 1000 (or "device 1000") according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 1000 may be suitable for use as a UE 601, 602, 701, an application server 630, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 1000 may include any combination of components shown in the example. The components of the platform 1000 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), part of an IC, a discrete electronic device, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1000, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system. Fig.10The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 1000. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0219] Application circuit 1005 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and LDO, interrupt controller, serial interface (such as SPI), I 2 The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1005 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 1000. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0220] The processor of the application circuit 905 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multi-threaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 905 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0221] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1005 may include a processor based on Architecture Core TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU class processors, or available from Santa Clara, CA The processor of application circuit 1005 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s A5-A9 processors, Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM Processor, Texas Instruments, Open Multimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 1005 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 1005 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as company( Edison Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0222] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 1005 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); etc. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1005 may include logic blocks or logic structures, and other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1005 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc.

[0223] The baseband circuit 1010 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Fig.11The various hardware electronic components of baseband circuit 1010 are discussed.

[0224] The RFEM 1015 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Fig.11 Antenna array 11111), and RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative implementation, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1015 combining both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0225] The memory circuit 1020 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a quantitative system memory. For example, the memory circuit 1020 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 1020 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) based low power double data rate (LPDDR) design such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1020 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 1020 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with the application circuit 1005. In order to provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 1020 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1000 may be combined with a computer obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0226] Removable memory circuitry 1023 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 1000. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage, and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0227] The platform 1000 may further include an interface circuit (not shown) for connecting external devices to the platform 1000. External devices connected to the platform 1000 via the interface circuit include a sensor circuit 1021 and an electromechanical component (EMC) 1022, and a removable memory device coupled to the removable memory circuit 1023.

[0228] Sensor circuit 1021 comprises a device, module or subsystem that is intended to detect events or changes in its environment and to send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope and / or a magnetometer; a level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0229] The EMC 1022 includes devices, modules or subsystems that are intended to enable the platform 1000 to change its state, position and / or orientation or to move or control a mechanism or (sub) system. In addition, the EMC 1022 may be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 1000 to indicate the current state of the EMC 1022. Examples of the EMC 1022 include one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 1000 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1022 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from a service provider and / or various clients.

[0230] In some specific implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1000 to the positioning circuit 1045. The positioning circuit 1045 includes a circuit for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the GPS of the United States, the GLONASS of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the Beidou navigation satellite system of China, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS of Japan, DORIS of France, etc.), etc. The positioning circuit 1045 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1045 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1045 may also be part of the baseband circuit 910 and / or the RFEM 1015 or interact with it to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 1045 may also provide location data and / or time data to application circuitry 1005 , which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (eg, radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

[0231] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1000 with a near field communication (NFC) circuit 1040. The NFC circuit 1040 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, where magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 1040 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touch point") external to the platform 1000. The NFC circuit 1040 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 1040 by executing an NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit a short-range RF signal. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuit 1040, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuit 1040 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) proximate to the platform 1000.

[0232] The driver circuit 1046 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 1000. The driver circuit 1046 may include various drivers to allow other components of the platform 1000 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the platform 1000. For example, the driver circuit 1046 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface of the platform 1000, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 1021 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1021, an EMC driver for obtaining an actuator position of the EMC 1022 and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 1022, 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.

[0233] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1025 (also referred to as “power management circuit 1025”) may manage power provided to various components of the platform 1000. Specifically, the PMIC 1025 may control power selection, voltage regulation, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion relative to the baseband circuit 1010. When the platform 1000 is capable of being powered by a battery 1030, for example, when the device is included in a UE 601, 602, 701, a PMIC 1025 may be generally included.

[0234] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1025 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1000. For example, if the platform 1000 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, then after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 1000 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 1000 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. are performed. The platform 1000 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device wakes up periodically again to listen to the network and then powers off again. The platform 1000 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power saving modes may prevent the device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0235] The battery 1030 can power the platform 1000, but in some examples, the platform 1000 can be mounted in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 1030 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1030 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0236] In some implementations, the battery 1030 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 1000 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1030. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1030, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 1030, to provide fault prediction. The BMS may transmit information about the battery 1030 to the application circuit 1005 or other components of the platform 1000. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1005 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1030 or the current from the battery 1030. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 1000 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0237] A power block or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1030. In some examples, the power block XS30 can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtain power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in the computer platform 1000. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 1030 and therefore the current required. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance.

[0238] The user interface circuit 1050 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 1000, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 1000 and / or a peripheral component interface designed to implement interaction with the peripheral components of the platform 1000. The user interface circuit 1050 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, including, in particular, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where outputs of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. are generated or produced by the operation of the platform 1000. The output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printers, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor circuit 1021 may be used as an input device circuit (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.), and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuits (e.g., actuators for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuit including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0239] Although not shown, the components of platform 1000 may communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, a time-triggered protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0240] Figure X FIG. 1 shows exemplary components of a baseband circuit 1110 and a radio front end module (RFEM) 1115 according to various embodiments. The baseband circuit 1110 corresponds to Fig. 9 and Fig.10 Baseband circuits 910 and 1010. RFEM 1115 corresponds to Fig. 9 and Fig.10 RFEM 915 and 1015. As shown, RFEM 1115 may include radio frequency (RF) circuitry 1106, front end module (FEM) circuitry 1108, and antenna array 1111 coupled together at least as shown.

[0241] The baseband circuit 1110 includes circuits and / or control logic components configured to execute various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 1106. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 1110 may include a fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping function. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 1110 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions is not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments. The baseband circuit 1110 is configured to process the baseband signal received from the receiving signal path of the RF circuit 1106 and generate a baseband signal for the transmitting signal path of the RF circuit 1106. The baseband circuit 1110 is configured to communicate with the application circuit 905 / 1005 (see Fig. 9 and Fig.10 ) to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuit 1106. Baseband circuit 1110 can handle various radio control functions.

[0242] The aforementioned circuits and / or control logic components of the baseband circuit 1110 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 1104A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 1104B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 1104C, or some other baseband processors 1104D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., the sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1104A-D may be included in a module stored in the memory 1104G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 1104E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1104A-D may be provided as a hardware accelerator (e.g., FPGA, ASIC, etc.) loaded with appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in corresponding memory units. In various embodiments, the memory 1104G may store program code of a real-time OS (RTOS), which, when executed by the CPU 1104E (or other baseband processor), will enable the CPU 1104E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources of the baseband circuit 1110, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of RTOS may include: Operating System Embedded (OSE) provided TM , by Mentor Nucleus RTOS provided TM , by Mentor Versatile Real-TimeExecutive (VRTX) provided by Express Provided by ThreadX TM ,Depend on FreeRTOS and REX OS provided by Open Kernel (OK) OKL4 is provided, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the baseband circuit 1110 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1104F. The audio DSP 1104F includes elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

[0243] In some embodiments, each of processors 1104A-1104E includes a corresponding memory interface to send data to / receive data from memory 1104G. Baseband circuit 1110 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to baseband circuit 1110; an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit; Figures 9 to X Application circuit interface for sending data to / receiving data from the application circuit 905 / 1005 of T; Figure X RF circuit interface for sending data to / receiving data from the RF circuit 1106 of T; for receiving data from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components, Low power consumption components, components, etc.) to send data / receive data from these wireless hardware elements; and a power management interface for sending power or control signals to / receiving power or control signals from the PMIC 1025.

[0244] In an alternative embodiment (which can be combined with the above embodiment), the baseband circuit 1110 includes one or more digital baseband systems, which are coupled to each other and to the CPU subsystem, the audio subsystem and the interface subsystem via an interconnection subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem can also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed signal baseband subsystem via another interconnection subsystem. Each of the interconnection subsystems may include a bus system, a point-to-point connector, a network on chip (NOC) structure and / or some other suitable bus or interconnection technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include a DSP circuit, a buffer memory, a program memory, a voice processing accelerator circuit, a data converter circuit such as an analog-to-digital converter circuit and a digital-to-analog converter circuit, an analog circuit including one or more of an amplifier and a filter, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the baseband circuit 1110 may include a protocol processing circuit with one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or the radio frequency circuit (e.g., the radio front end module 1115).

[0245] although Figure XT is not shown, but in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1110 includes various processing devices (e.g., "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuit") to operate one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices to implement PHY layer functions. In some embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuit operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, when the baseband circuit 1110 and / or the RF circuit 1106 are part of a millimeter wave communication circuit or some other suitable cellular communication circuit, the protocol processing circuit may operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities. In the first example, the protocol processing circuit will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, when the baseband circuit 1110 and / or the RF circuit 1106 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuit may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In the second example, the protocol processing circuit will operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 1104G) for storing program code and data for operating protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing program code and performing various operations using data. The baseband circuitry 1110 may also support radio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

[0246] The various hardware elements of the baseband circuit 1110 discussed herein may be implemented as, for example, a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuit 1110 may be appropriately combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1110 and the RF circuit 1106 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system on a chip (SOC) or a system-in-package (SiP). In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1110 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to the RF circuit 1106 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 1106). In yet another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1110 and the application circuit 905 / 1005 may be implemented together as a separate SoC mounted to the same circuit board (e.g., a "multi-chip package").

[0247] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1110 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1110 may support communications with E-UTRAN or other WMANs, WLANs, WPANs. Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 1110 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0248] RF circuit 1106 may enable communication with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 1106 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 1106 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting an RF signal received from FEM circuit 1108 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 1110. RF circuit 1106 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting a baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 1110 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 1108.

[0249] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1106 may include a mixer circuit 1106a, an amplifier circuit 1106b, and a filter circuit 1106c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1106 may include a filter circuit 1106c and the mixer circuit 1106a. The RF circuit 1106 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1106d for synthesizing frequencies used by the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1108 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1106d. The amplifier circuit 1106b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1106c may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuit 1110 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard.

[0250] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1106a of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1106d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1108. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1110 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1106c.

[0251] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1106a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1106a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1106a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1106a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1106a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0252] 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, the RF circuit 1106 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 1110 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuit 1106.

[0253] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0254] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1106d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 1106d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0255] Synthesizer circuit 1106d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a divider control input for use by mixer circuit 1106a of RF circuit 1106. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1106d may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0256] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 1110 or application circuitry 905 / 1005 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application circuitry 905 / 1005.

[0257] The synthesizer circuit 1106d of the RF circuit 1106 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In some embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0258] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1106d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and can be used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1106 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0259] FEM circuitry 1108 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antenna array 1111, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuitry 1106 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1108 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuitry 1106 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 1111. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal paths may be accomplished only in RF circuitry 1106, only in FEM circuitry 1108, or in both RF circuitry 1106 and FEM circuitry 1108.

[0260] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1108 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 1108 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1108 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 1106). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1108 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1106), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1111.

[0261] The antenna array 1111 includes one or more antenna elements, each of which is configured to convert an electrical signal into a radio wave to travel through the air and convert the received radio wave into an electrical signal. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 1110 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which is amplified and transmitted via the antenna elements of the antenna array 1111 including one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formed into a variety of arrangements as known and / or discussed herein. The antenna array 1111 may include a microstrip antenna or a printed antenna fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 1111 may be formed as a patch of metal foil of various shapes (e.g., a patch antenna) and may be coupled to the RF circuit 1106 and / or the FEM circuit 1108 using a metal transmission line or the like.

[0262] The processor of the application circuit 905 / 1005 and the processor of the baseband circuit 1110 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 1110 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 905 / 1005 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a PHY layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0263] Fig.12 Various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device according to some embodiments are shown. Specifically, Fig.12An arrangement 1200 is included to show the interconnection between various protocol layers / entities. Various protocol layers / entities operating in conjunction with 5G / NR system standards and LTE system standards are provided. Fig.12 The following description, but Fig.12 Some or all aspects of the invention may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0264] In addition to other higher layer functions not shown, the protocol layers of arrangement 1200 may also include one or more of PHY 1210, MAC 1220, RLC 1230, PDCP 1240, SDAP 1247, RRC 1255, and NAS layer 1257. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., Fig.12 Items 1259, 1256, 1250, 1249, 1245, 1235, 1225, and 1215).

[0265] PHY 1210 can send and receive physical layer signals 1205, which can be received or sent from one or more other communication devices to one or more other communication devices. Physical layer signals 1205 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. PHY 1210 may also perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and switching purposes) and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC1255). PHY 1210 may also further perform error detection on transmission channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of transmission channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. In an embodiment, an instance of PHY 1210 may process a request from an instance of MAC 1220 and provide an indication thereof via one or more PHY-SAP 1215. According to some embodiments, the request and indication transmitted via PHY-SAP 1215 may include one or more transmission channels.

[0266] An instance of MAC 1220 may process requests from an instance of RLC 1230 and provide indications thereto via one or more MAC-SAPs 1225. These requests and indications transmitted via MAC-SAP 1225 may include one or more logical channels. MAC 1220 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY 1210 via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs delivered from PHY 1210 via transport channels to one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0267] An instance of RLC 1230 may process requests from an instance of PDCP 1240 and provide indications thereto via one or more radio link control service access points (RLC-SAPs) 1235. These requests and indications transmitted via RLC-SAPs 1235 may include one or more logical channels. RLC 1230 may operate in a variety of operating modes, including: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). RLC 1230 may perform transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. RLC 1230 may also perform resegmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0268] An instance of PDCP 1240 may process requests from an instance of RRC 1255 and / or an instance of SDAP 1247 and provide indications thereto via one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Points (PDCP-SAPs) 1245. These requests and indications transmitted via PDCP-SAPs 1245 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 1240 may perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform in-order delivery of upper layer PDUs when lower layers are reestablished, eliminate duplication of lower layer SDUs when lower layers are reestablished for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0269] An instance of SDAP 1247 may process requests from one or more higher layer protocol entities and provide instructions thereto via one or more SDAP-SAPs 1249. These requests and instructions transmitted via SDAP-SAPs 1249 may include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 1247 may map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 1247 may be configured for a separate PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 610 may control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflective mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, SDAP 1247 of UE 601 may monitor the QFI of DL packets for each DRB, and may apply the same mapping to packets flowing in the UL direction. For DRBs, SDAP 1247 of UE 601 may map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of the DRB. To implement the reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 810 may mark the DL packets with a QoS flow ID over the Uu interface. The explicit mapping may involve the RRC 1255 configuring the SDAP 1247 with explicit mapping rules of QoS flows to DRBs, which may be stored and followed by the SDAP 1247. In an embodiment, the SDAP 1247 may be used only in NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

[0270] The RRC 1255 may configure aspects of one or more protocol layers, which may include one or more instances of PHY 1210, MAC 1220, RLC 1230, PDCP 1240, and SDAP 1247, via one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs). In an embodiment, an instance of the RRC 1255 may process requests from one or more NAS entities 1257 and provide instructions thereto via one or more RRC-SAPs 1256. The main services and functions of the RRC 1255 may include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in a MIB or SIB related to NAS), broadcasting of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between the UE 601 and the RAN 610 (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.

[0271] NAS 1257 may form the highest layer of the control plane between UE 601 and AMF 821. NAS 1257 may support mobility and session management procedures of UE 601 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 601 and P-GW in the LTE system.

[0272] According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities of the arrangement 1200 may be implemented in the UE 601, the RAN node 611, the AMF 821 in the NR implementation or the MME 721 in the LTE implementation, the UPF 802 in the NR implementation or the S-GW 722 and the P-GW 723 in the LTE implementation, etc., for control plane or user plane communication protocol stacks between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of the UE 601, the gNB 611, the AMF 821, etc. may communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented in or on another device (using services of corresponding lower layer protocol entities to perform such communication). In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of gNB 611 may host the gNB's RRC 1255, SDAP 1247, and PDCP 1240 that control operations of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of gNB 611 may each host the RLC 1230, MAC 1220, and PHY 1210 of gNB 611.

[0273] In a first example, the control plane protocol stack may include, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer, NAS 1257, RRC 1255, PDCP 1240, RLC 1230, MAC 1220, and PHY 1210. In this example, an upper layer 1260 may be built on top of NAS 1257, which includes an IP layer 1261, SCTP 1262, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 1263.

[0274] In a NR specific implementation, AP 1263 can be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1263 for the NG interface 613 defined between the NG-RAN node 611 and the AMF 821, or AP 1263 can be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1263 for the Xn interface 612 defined between two or more RAN nodes 611.

[0275] The NG-AP 1263 may support the functions of the NG interface 613 and may include an elementary procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the NG-RAN node 611 and the AMF 821. The NG-AP 1263 services may include two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., services related to UE 601, 602) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 611 and the AMF 821). These services may include functions including, but not limited to: a paging function for sending a paging request to the NG-RAN node 611 involved in a specific paging area; a UE context management function for allowing the AMF 821 to establish, modify and / or release the UE context in the AMF 821 and the NG-RAN node 611; a mobility function for the UE 601 in ECM-CONNECTED mode, for intra-system HO to support mobility within the NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO to support mobility from / to the EPS system; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 601 and the AMF 821; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 821 and the UE 601; an NG interface management function for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; a warning message sending function for providing a means to transmit a warning message via the NG interface or to cancel an ongoing warning message broadcast; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 601 and the AMF 821; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 821 and the UE 601; a ... via the CN 620 is a configuration transmission function for requesting and transmitting RAN configuration information (eg, SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 611; and / or other similar functions.

[0276] The XnAP 1263 may support the functions of the Xn interface 612 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. The XnAP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the NG RAN 611 (or E-UTRAN 710), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The XnAP global procedures may include procedures unrelated to a specific UE 601, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0277] In an LTE specific implementation, AP 1263 can be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1263 for an S1 interface 613 defined between an E-UTRAN node 611 and an MME, or AP 1263 can be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1263 for an X2 interface 612 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 611.

[0278] The S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1263 may support the functionality of the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, the S1-AP may include an S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 611 and the MME 721 within the LTE CN 620. The S1-AP 1263 services may include two groups: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. The functions performed by these services include, but are not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transmission.

[0279] The X2AP 1263 may support the functions of the X2 interface 612 and may include an X2AP basic mobility procedure and an X2AP global procedure. The X2AP basic mobility procedure may include a procedure for handling UE mobility within the E-UTRAN 620, such as a handover preparation and cancellation procedure, an SN state transfer procedure, a UE context retrieval and a UE context release procedure, a RAN paging procedure, a procedure related to dual connectivity, etc. The X2AP global procedure may include a procedure that is not related to a specific UE 601, such as an X2 interface setup and reset procedure, a load indication procedure, an error indication procedure, a cell activation procedure, etc.

[0280] The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 1262 may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). The SCTP 1262 may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 611 and the AMF 821 / MME 721 based in part on the IP protocol supported by the IP 1261. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 1261 may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, the IP layer 1261 may deliver and transmit PDUs using point-to-point transport. In this regard, the RAN node 611 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0281] In a second example, the user plane protocol stack may include SDAP 1247, PDCP 1240, RLC 1230, MAC 1220, and PHY 1210 in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer. The user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between UE 601, RAN node 611, and UPF 802 in NR implementation, or communication between S-GW 722 and P-GW 723 in LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 1251 may be built on top of SDAP 1247 and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer (UDP / IP) 1252, a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for a user plane layer (GTP-U) 1253, and a user plane PDU layer (UP PDU) 1263.

[0282] The transport network layer 1254 (also referred to as the "transport layer") may be built on top of the IP transport, and the GTP-U 1253 may be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 1252 (including the UDP layer and the IP layer) to carry the user plane PDU (UP-PDU). The IP layer (also referred to as the "Internet layer") may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packets, for example, in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats.

[0283] GTP-U 1253 may be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. For example, the transmitted user data may be packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. UDP / IP 1252 may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication of selected data flows. The RAN node 611 and the S-GW 722 may utilize the S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer (e.g., PHY 1210), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 1220, RLC 1230, PDCP 1240, and / or SDAP 1247), a UDP / IP layer 1252, and GTP-U 1253. S-GW 722 and P-GW 723 may utilize an S5 / S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer, an L2 layer, a UDP / IP layer 1252, and a GTP-U 1253. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol may support the mobility and session management procedures of UE 601 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 601 and P-GW 723.

[0284] In addition, despite Fig.12Not shown, but an application layer may exist above the AP 1263 and / or transport network layer 1254. The application layer may be a layer where a user of the UE 601, RAN node 611, or other network element interacts with a software application, for example, executed by the application circuit 905 or the application circuit 1005, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for the software application to interact with the communication system (such as the baseband circuit 1110) of the UE 601 or RAN node 611. In some implementations, the IP layer and / or the application layer may provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5 to 7 of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model, or portions thereof (e.g., OSI layer 7—application layer, OSI layer 6—presentation layer, and OSI layer 5—session layer).

[0285] Fig.13 Components of a core network according to various embodiments are shown. The components of CN 720 may be implemented in one physical node or in separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In an embodiment, the components of CN 820 may be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to the components of CN 720. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the above-mentioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 720 may be referred to as a network slice 1301, and each logical instance of CN 720 may provide specific network functions and network characteristics. A logical instance of a portion of CN 720 may be referred to as a network sub-slice 1302 (e.g., network sub-slice 1302 is shown as including P-GW 723 and PCRF 726).

[0286] As used herein, the terms "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance may refer to information identifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection and routing in different IP domains or in the case of overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance may refer to a set of network function (NF) instances and the resources (e.g., computing, storage, and networking resources) required to deploy a network slice.

[0287] Regarding 5G systems (see e.g. Figure 8), a network slice always includes a RAN part and a CN part. Support for network slicing relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. The network can implement different network slices by scheduling and also by providing different L1 / L2 configurations. If NAS has provided an RRC message, UE 801 provides auxiliary information for network slice selection in an appropriate RRC message. Although the network can support a large number of slices, the UE does not need to support more than 8 slices at the same time.

[0288] The network slice may include the CN 820 control plane and user plane NF, the NG-RAN 810 in the serving PLMN, and the N3IWF function in the serving PLMN. Each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI and / or may have a different SST. The NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by the S-NSSAI. The network slice may differ in terms of supported features and network function optimizations, and / or multiple network slice instances may deliver the same service / feature, but differ for different groups of UE 801 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, each network slice may deliver different committed services and / or may be dedicated to a specific customer or enterprise. In this example, each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI with the same SST but with a different slice differentiator. In addition, a single UE may be served simultaneously by one or more network slice instances via a 5G AN and be associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. In addition, an AMF 821 instance serving a single UE 801 may belong to each network slice instance serving the UE.

[0289] Network slicing in NG-RAN 810 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes differentiated processing for traffic of different network slices that have been pre-configured. Slice awareness in NG-RAN 810 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 810 supports enabling slices in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., a set of network functions including each slice) depends on the specific implementation. NG-RAN810 selects the RAN part of the network slice using auxiliary information provided by UE 801 or 5GC 820, which explicitly identifies one or more network slices in the pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. NG-RAN 810 also supports resource management and policy enforcement between slices according to SLA. A single NG-RAN node can support multiple slices, and NG-RAN810 can also appropriately apply appropriate RRM policies for SLA to each supported slice. NG-RAN 810 can also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

[0290] The NG-RAN 810 may also use the UE assistance information to select an AMF 821 during the initial attach, if available. The NG-RAN 810 routes the initial NAS to the AMF 821 using the assistance information. If the NG-RAN 810 cannot select the AMF 821 using the assistance information, or the UE 801 does not provide any such information, the NG-RAN 810 sends the NAS signaling to the default AMF 821, which may be in the AMF 821 pool. For subsequent access, the UE 801 provides the temporary ID assigned to the UE 801 by the 5GC 820 to enable the NG-RAN 810 to route the NAS message to the appropriate AMF 821, as long as the temporary ID is valid. The NG-RAN 810 knows and can reach the AMF 821 associated with the temporary ID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

[0291] The NG-RAN 810 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 810 resource isolation can be achieved with the help of RRM policies and protection mechanisms that should avoid starvation of shared resources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for another slice. In some implementations, NG-RAN 810 resources can be fully assigned to a slice. How the NG-RAN 810 supports resource isolation depends on the specific implementation.

[0292] Some slices may be only partially available in the network. Awareness in the NG-RAN 810 of the slices supported in its neighboring cells may be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Slice availability may not change within the registration area of ​​the UE. The NG-RAN 810 and 5GC 820 are responsible for handling service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. Granting or denying access to a slice may depend on factors such as support for the slice, availability of resources, and support of the requested service by the NG-RAN 810.

[0293] The UE 801 may be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. In the case where the UE 801 is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained and for intra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 801 attempts to camp on the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities may be used to control the frequency that the UE 801 camps on. The 5GC 820 will verify that the UE 801 has the right to access the network slice. Prior to receiving the Initial Context Setup Request message, the NG-RAN 810 may be allowed to apply some temporary / local policies based on the awareness of the specific slice that the UE 801 is requesting access to. During the Initial Context Setup, the NG-RAN 810 is informed of the slice whose resources are being requested.

[0294] NFV architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more NFs onto physical resources including a combination of industry standard server hardware, storage hardware or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0295] Fig.14 1400 , according to some exemplary embodiments, is a block diagram illustrating components of a NFV-enabled system 1400. System 1400 is shown to include a VIM 1402, a NFVI 1404, a VNFM 1406, a VNF 1408, an EM 1410, a NFVO 1412, and a NM 1414.

[0296] The VIM 1402 manages resources of the NFVI 1404. The NFVI 1404 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including a hypervisor) for executing the system 1400. The VIM 1402 may utilize the NFVI 1404 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., creation, maintenance, and teardown of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track performance, failures, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0297] The VNFM 1406 may manage the VNF 1408. The VNF 1408 may be used to perform EPC components / functions. The VNFM 1406 may manage the lifecycle of the VNF 1408 and track the performance, failures, and security of the virtual aspects of the VNF 1408. The EM 1410 may track the performance, failures, and security of the functional aspects of the VNF 1408. The tracking data from the VNFM 1406 and the EM 1410 may include, for example, PM data used by the VIM 1402 or the NFVI 1404. The VNFM 1406 and the EM 1410 may both scale up / down the number of VNFs of the system 1400.

[0298] NFVO 1412 may coordinate, authorize, release, and engage resources of NFVI 1404 in order to provide requested services (e.g., to execute EPC functions, components, or slices). NM 1414 may provide an end-user functional package responsible for network management, which may include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of VNFs may occur via EM 1410).

[0299] Fig.15is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments. Specifically, Fig.15 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1500 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1510, one or more memory / storage devices 1520, and one or more communication resources 1530, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 1540. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1500.

[0300] Processor 1510 may include, for example, processor 1512 and processor 1514. Processor 1510 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.

[0301] The memory / storage device 1520 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1520 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0302] The communication resources 1530 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1506 via the network 1508. For example, the communication resources 1530 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via USB), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, (or Low power) components, Wi- components and other communication components.

[0303] The instructions 1550 may include software, programs, applications, applet, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1510 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1550 may reside in whole or in part in at least one of the processors 1510 (e.g., in a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1520, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1550 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 1500 from any combination of the peripheral device 1504 or the database 1506. Thus, the memory of the processor 1510, the memory / storage device 1520, the peripheral device 1504, and the database 1506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0304] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes and / or methods described in the following example section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following embodiments. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments shown in the example section below.

[0305] Example

[0306] Example 1 may include details regarding grant-based PUSCH (GB PUSCH) transmissions and configuration grant-based PUSCH (CG PUSCH) transmissions in an NR system operating on unlicensed spectrum.

[0307] Example 2 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein only DCI 0_1 is extended to schedule multi-TTI PUSCH.

[0308] Example 3 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples in this document, wherein the DCI scheduling multi-TTI PUSCH and the DCI scheduling single-TTI PUSCH have different numbers of CBGTI bits per TB, and CBG regrouping is adopted.

[0309] Example 4 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein for CBG-based PUSCH transmission, N>1 HARQ-ACK bits are allocated to each HARQ process configured for the CG, while only 1 bit is allocated to other HARQ processes.

[0310] Example 5 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein for CBG-based PUSCH transmission, N>1 HARQ-ACK bits are allocated to a subset of HARQ processes configured for CG, while only 1 bit is allocated to all other HARQ processes.

[0311] Example 6 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein for GB multi-slot PUSCH, once the UE occupies the channel by successfully performing LBT, the UE continuously transmits in multiple time slots.

[0312] Example 7 may include a method according to Example 6 or some other examples herein, wherein the UE follows a start symbol indicated in a first time slot used for the channel occupancy, and the UE follows an end symbol indicated in a last time slot used for the channel occupancy.

[0313] Example 8 may include a method according to Example 6 or some other examples herein, wherein if LBT fails in the first time slot, the UE attempts LBT at symbol 0 of the next time slot.

[0314] Example 9 may include a method according to Example 6 or some other examples herein, wherein if the UE is indicated as having no LBT, the UE performs no LBT in each UL burst to start its transmission, or, the UE performs no LBT only in exactly the first UL burst, or, if the starting symbol of the multi-slot PUSCH follows a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol as indicated by DCI 2_0, the UE performs no LBT.

[0315] Example 10 may include a method according to Example 6 or some other examples herein, wherein the DMRS of the time slots used for the multi-slot PUSCH follows the PUSCH type indicated by the DCI; or, only the DMRS of the first time slot follows the PUSCH type indicated by the DCI, and the DMRS of the remaining time slots uses the DMRS of PUSCH type A.

[0316] Example 11 may include a method according to Example 6 or some other examples herein, wherein PUSCH type A mapping is always used for CG transmission.

[0317] Example 12 may include a method according to Example 6 or some other examples herein, wherein if the PUSCH in the time slot is explicitly available for transmission, the CSI is carried on the exact first time slot, or if multi-slot PUSCH is scheduled using no LBT, the CSI is prioritized to be carried on the last time slot of the multi-slot PUSCH.

[0318] Example 13 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein the CG-UCI is carried only in the first time slot repetition of the TB, or the CG-UCI is carried in every time slot, or the CG-UCI is carried in the starting time slot repetition of the TB on each UL burst.

[0319] Example 14 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein the UE performs rate matching on the TB over N time slots, and the rate matching operation is repeated M times for a total number MN of time slot repetitions.

[0320] Example 15 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein the starting position of the PUSCH is determined as an offset X on symbol k, where k is the index of the starting symbol of the SLIV.

[0321] Example 16 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein a starting position of the PUSCH is determined as an offset X on symbol k-1 or k-2 or k-4.

[0322] Example 17 may include a method according to Example 15 or 16 or some other examples herein, wherein the starting position is generated with 1 symbol or 2 symbols or 4 symbols, or the starting position is fixedly generated with one symbol of SCS 15kHz.

[0323] Example 18 may include a method according to Example 15 or 16 or some other examples herein, wherein within the gNB initiated COT, only the starting position with an offset X>25us is applicable to the CG PUSCH, or, only the starting position with an offset X>16us is applicable to the CG PUSCH.

[0324] Example 19 may include a method according to Example 15 or 16 or some other examples herein, wherein within a gNB initiated COT, no LBT is indicated in a DCI for GB PUSCH, while CG PUSCH uses an LBT of 25us.

[0325] Example 20 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein CBG (re)transmission is enabled for the CG and 8 bits of the CBGTI are carried in the CG-UCI.

[0326] Example 21 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein the time domain resources allowing CG transmission are RRC configured via a 40-bit long bitmap independent of the subcarrier spacing, where each bit corresponds to a time slot.

[0327] Example 22 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein the CG UE has multiple starting symbols that are a subset of symbols preceding the DMRS (e.g., symbols #0, #1).

[0328] Example 23 may include a method according to Example 1 or some other examples herein, wherein for SCS 15 and 60 KHz subcarrier spacing, the offset is truncated until the second symbol.

[0329] Example 24 may include a method according to Example 23 or some other example herein, wherein the UCI of the CG carries an indication of whether the first two symbols are used in the entire two bits, which indicates: i) whether the CG data transmission starts from symbol #0; ii) whether the CG data transmission starts from symbol #1, iii) or whether the CG data transmission starts from symbol #2. For example, "00" -> SCH-UL starts from symbol 0; "01" -> SCH-UL starts from symbol 1; "10" -> SCH-UL starts from symbol 2; "11" -> reserved.

[0330] Example 25 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Examples 1 to 24, or any other method or process described herein.

[0331] Example 26 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described or related to any of Examples 1 to 24 or any other method or process described herein.

[0332] Example 27 may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of a method as described or related to any of Examples 1 to 24 or any other method or process described herein.

[0333] Example 28 may include a method, technique, or process as described or related to any of Examples 1 to 24, or a portion or component thereof.

[0334] Example 29 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any one of Examples 1 to 24, or a portion thereof.

[0335] Example 30 may include a signal as described or related to any one of Examples 1 to 24, or a portion or component thereof.

[0336] Example 31 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0337] Example 32 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0338] Example 33 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0339] Example 34 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0340] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above examples may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from the practice of the various embodiments.

[0341] abbreviation

[0342] For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviations may be applied to the examples and embodiments discussed herein but are not meant to be limiting.

[0343] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0344] 4G Fourth Generation

[0345] 5G Fifth Generation

[0346] 5GC 5G Core Network

[0347] ACK

[0348] AF Application Function

[0349] AM Confirmation Mode

[0350] AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate

[0351] AMF Access and Mobility Management Function

[0352] AN Access Network

[0353] ANR Automatic Neighbor Relation

[0354] AP application protocol, antenna port, access point

[0355] API Application Programming Interface

[0356] APN Access Point Name

[0357] ARP Assignment Retention Priority

[0358] ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

[0359] AS Access Layer

[0360] ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation

[0361] AUSF authentication server function

[0362] AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

[0363] BCH Broadcast Channel

[0364] BER Bit Error Rate

[0365] BFD Beam Fault Detection

[0366] BLER Block Error Rate

[0367] BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying

[0368] BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server

[0369] BSS Business Support System

[0370] BS Base Station

[0371] BSR Buffer Status Report

[0372] BW Bandwidth

[0373] BWP Bandwidth Part

[0374] C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0375] CA Carrier Aggregation, Certification Authority

[0376] CAPEX Capital Expenditure

[0377] CBRA Contention-based random access

[0378] CC component carrier, country code, encryption checksum

[0379] CCA Clear Channel Assessment

[0380] CCE Control Channel Element

[0381] CCCH Common Control Channel

[0382] CE Coverage Enhancement

[0383] CDM Content Delivery Network

[0384] CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

[0385] CFRA Contention-free random access

[0386] CG Cell Group

[0387] CI Cell ID

[0388] CID Cell ID (eg, positioning method)

[0389] CIM Common Information Model

[0390] CIR Carrier to Interference Ratio

[0391] CK Cryptographic Key

[0392] CM Connection Management, Conditionally Mandatory

[0393] CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service

[0394] CMD command

[0395] CMS Cloud Management System

[0396] CO Conditional optional

[0397] CoMP Coordinated Multipoint

[0398] CORESET Control Resource Set

[0399] COTS Commercial Off-the-Shelf

[0400] CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Attachment Point

[0401] CPD Connection Point Descriptor

[0402] CPE user terminal equipment

[0403] CPICH Common Pilot Channel

[0404] CQI Channel Quality Indicator

[0405] CPU CSI processing unit, central processing unit

[0406] C / R Command / Response field bit

[0407] CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN

[0408] CRB Common Resource Block

[0409] CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0410] CRI Channel State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource Indicator

[0411] C-RNTI Cell RNTI

[0412] CS Circuit Switched

[0413] CSAR Cloud Service Archive

[0414] CSI Channel State Information

[0415] CSI-IM CSI interference measurement

[0416] CSI-RS CSI reference signal

[0417] CSI-RSRP CSI reference signal received power

[0418] CSI-RSRQ CSI reference signal reception quality

[0419] CSI-SINR CSI signal to interference plus noise ratio

[0420] CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access

[0421] CSMA / CA CSMA with collision avoidance

[0422] CSS Common Search Space, Cell Specific Search Space

[0423] CTS Clear to Send

[0424] CW codeword

[0425] CWS Contention Window Size

[0426] D2D Device to Device

[0427] DC Dual Connection, Direct Current

[0428] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0429] DF deployment preferences

[0430] DL Downlink

[0431] DMTF Distributed Management Task Force

[0432] DPDK Data Plane Development Kit

[0433] DM-RS, DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

[0434] DN Data Network

[0435] DRB Data Radio Bearer

[0436] DRS Discovery Reference Signal

[0437] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0438] DSL Domain Specific Language Digital Subscriber Line

[0439] DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer

[0440] DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot

[0441] E-LAN ​​Ethernet Local Area Network

[0442] E2E End-to-End

[0443] ECCA Extended Clear Channel Assessment, Extended CCA

[0444] ECCE Enhanced Control Channel Element, Enhanced CCE

[0445] ED Energy Detection

[0446] EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (GSM Evolution)

[0447] EGMF exposes governance management functions

[0448] EGPRS Enhanced GPRS

[0449] EIR Equipment Identity Register

[0450] eLAA Enhanced License Assisted Access, enhanced LAA

[0451] EM Component Manager

[0452] eMBB Enhanced Mobile Broadband

[0453] EMS Component Management System

[0454] eNB Evolved Node B, E-UTRAN Node B

[0455] EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0456] EPC Evolved Packet Core

[0457] EPDCCH Enhanced PDCCH, Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0458] EPRE Energy per resource element

[0459] EPS Evolved Packet System

[0460] EREG Enhanced REG, enhanced resource element group

[0461] ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute

[0462] ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System

[0463] eUICC embedded UICC, embedded universal integrated circuit card

[0464] E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

[0465] E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

[0466] EV2X Enhanced V2X

[0467] F1AP F1 Application Protocol

[0468] F1-C F1 control plane interface

[0469] F1-U F1 User Plane Interface

[0470] FACCH Fast Associated Control Channel

[0471] FACCH / F Fast Associated Control Channel / Full Rate

[0472] FACCH / H Fast Associated Control Channel / Half Rate

[0473] FACH Forward Access Channel

[0474] FAUSCH Fast Uplink Signalling Channel

[0475] FB Function Block

[0476] FBI Feedback

[0477] FCC Federal Communications Commission

[0478] FCCH Frequency Correction Channel

[0479] FDD Frequency Division Duplex

[0480] FDM Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0481] FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0482] FE Front End

[0483] FEC Forward Error Correction

[0484] FFS for further study

[0485] FFT Fast Fourier Transform

[0486] feLAA Further Enhanced License Assisted Access, further enhanced LAA

[0487] FN Frame Number

[0488] FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array

[0489] FR Frequency Range

[0490] G-RNTI GERAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

[0491] GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

[0492] GSM Gateway GPRS Support Node

[0493] GLONASS GLObal'naya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (Chinese: Global Navigation Satellite System)

[0494] gNB Next Generation Node B

[0495] gNB-CU gNB centralized unit, next generation Node B centralized unit

[0496] gNB-DU gNB distributed unit, next generation Node B distributed unit

[0497] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0498] GPRS General Packet Radio Service

[0499] GSM Global System for Mobile Communications, Mobile Experts Group

[0500] GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0501] GTP-U GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the User Plane

[0502] GTS Go to sleep signal (related to WUS)

[0503] GUMMEI Globally Unique MME Identifier

[0504] GUTI Globally Unique Temporary UE Identifier

[0505] HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0506] HANDO, HO switch

[0507] HFN Superframe Number

[0508] HHO Hard Handover

[0509] HLR Home Location Register

[0510] HN Home Network

[0511] HO Switchover

[0512] HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network

[0513] HSDPA High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access

[0514] HSN Hopping Sequence Number

[0515] HSPA High Speed ​​Packet Access

[0516] HSS Home Subscriber Server

[0517] HSUPA High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access

[0518] HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol

[0519] HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (https is http / 1.1 over SSL, i.e., port 443)

[0520] I-Block Information Block

[0521] ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identifier

[0522] ICIC Inter-cell Interference Coordination

[0523] ID, identifier

[0524] IDFT Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform

[0525] IE Information Elements

[0526] IBE In-Band Emission

[0527] IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

[0528] IEI Information Element Identifier

[0529] IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length

[0530] IETF Internet Engineering Task Force

[0531] IF infrastructure

[0532] IM Interference Measurement, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia

[0533] IMC IMS credentials

[0534] IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity

[0535] IMGI International Mobile Group Identity

[0536] IMPI IP Multimedia Privacy Identity

[0537] IMPU IP Multimedia Public Identity

[0538] IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

[0539] IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0540] IoT

[0541] IP Internet Protocol

[0542] IPsec IP security, Internet Protocol security

[0543] IP-CAN IP connection access network

[0544] IP-M IP Multicast

[0545] IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4

[0546] IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6

[0547] IR

[0548] IS Synchronization

[0549] IRP Integration Reference Point

[0550] ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

[0551] ISIM IM Service Identity Module

[0552] ISO International Organization for Standardization

[0553] ISP Internet Service Provider

[0554] IWF interworking function

[0555] I-WLAN Intercommunication WLAN

[0556] K is the constraint length of the convolutional code, USIM individual key

[0557] kB kilobyte (1000 bytes)

[0558] kbps kilobits per second

[0559] Kc Cryptographic key

[0560] Ki Individual user authentication key

[0561] KPI Key Performance Indicator

[0562] KQI Key Quality Indicator

[0563] KSI Key Set Identifier

[0564] ksps kilosymbols per second

[0565] KVM Kernel Virtual Machine

[0566] L1 Layer 1 (physical layer)

[0567] L1-RSRP Layer 1 reference signal received power

[0568] L2 Layer 2 (Data Link Layer)

[0569] L3 Layer 3 (Network Layer)

[0570] LAA License Assisted Access

[0571] LAN Local Area Network

[0572] LBT Listen before you speak

[0573] LCM Lifecycle Management

[0574] LCR Low Chip Rate

[0575] LCS Location Services

[0576] LCID Logical Channel ID

[0577] LI layer indicator

[0578] LLC Logical Link Control, Low Layer Compatibility

[0579] LPLMN Local PLMN

[0580] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

[0581] LSB Least Significant Bit

[0582] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0583] LWA LTE-WLAN Aggregation

[0584] LWIP LTE / WLAN radio level integration with IPsec tunneling

[0585] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0586] M2M Machine to Machine

[0587] MAC Medium Access Control (Protocol Layer Context)

[0588] MAC Message Authentication Code (Security / Cryptography Context)

[0589] MAC-A MAC for authentication and key agreement (TSG T WG3 context)

[0590] MAC-I MAC for signaling message data integrity (TSG T WG3 content)

[0591] MANO Management and Orchestration

[0592] MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

[0593] MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network

[0594] MCC Mobile Country Code

[0595] MCG Master Cell Group

[0596] MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time

[0597] MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme

[0598] MDAF Management Data Analysis Function

[0599] MDAS Management Data Analysis Service

[0600] Minimization of MDT-driven testing

[0601] ME Mobile Devices

[0602] MeNB Master eNB

[0603] MER message error rate

[0604] MGL Measurement Gap Length

[0605] MGRP measurement gap repetition period

[0606] MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base

[0607] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0608] MLC Mobile Location Center

[0609] MM Mobility Management

[0610] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0611] MN Master Node

[0612] MO measurement object, mobile station calling

[0613] MPBCH MTC Physical Broadcast Channel

[0614] MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0615] MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0616] MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access Channel

[0617] MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0618] MPLS Multi-Protocol Label Switching

[0619] MS Mobile Station

[0620] MSB Most Significant Bit

[0621] MSC Mobile Switching Center

[0622] MSI minimum system information, MCH scheduling information

[0623] MSID Mobile Station Identifier

[0624] MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number

[0625] MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

[0626] MT mobile station called, mobile terminal

[0627] MTC Machine Type Communication

[0628] mMTC Massive MTC, massive machine type communication

[0629] MU-MIMO Multi-User MIMO

[0630] MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS

[0631] NACK Negative Acknowledgement

[0632] NAI Network Access Identifier

[0633] NAS Non-Access Stratum, Non-Access Stratum

[0634] NCT Network Connection Topology

[0635] NEC network capabilities exposed

[0636] NE-DC NR-E-UTRA dual connectivity

[0637] NEF Network Exposure Function

[0638] NF Network Function

[0639] NFP Network Forwarding Path

[0640] NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor

[0641] NFV Network Function Virtualization

[0642] NFVI NFV Infrastructure

[0643] NFVO NFV Orchestrator

[0644] NG Next generation, next generation

[0645] NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0646] NM Network Manager

[0647] NMS Network Management System

[0648] N-PoP Network Point of Presence

[0649] NMIB, N-MIB Narrowband MIB

[0650] NPBCH Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel

[0651] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0652] NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0653] NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel

[0654] NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0655] NPSS Narrowband Primary Synchronization Signal

[0656] NSSS Narrowband Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0657] NR New air interface, neighbor relationship

[0658] NRF NF Repository Functionality

[0659] NRS Narrowband Reference Signal

[0660] NS Network Services

[0661] NSA Non-standalone operation mode

[0662] NSD Network Service Descriptor

[0663] NSR Network Service Record

[0664] NSSAI Network Slice Selection Assistance Information

[0665] S-NNSAI Single NSSAI

[0666] NSSF network slice selection function

[0667] NW Network

[0668] NWUS Narrowband wake-up signal, narrowband WUS

[0669] NZP Non Zero Power

[0670] O&M Operation and Maintenance

[0671] ODU2 Optical Channel Data Unit - Type 2

[0672] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0673] OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0674] OOB Out of Band

[0675] OOS Out of Sync

[0676] OPEX Operational Expenses

[0677] OSI Other System Information

[0678] OSS Operation Support System

[0679] OTA

[0680] PAPR Peak to Average Power Ratio

[0681] PAR Peak to Average Ratio

[0682] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

[0683] PC Power Control, Personal Computer

[0684] PCC primary component carrier, primary CC

[0685] PCell Primary Cell

[0686] PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity

[0687] PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function

[0688] PCF Policy Control Function

[0689] PCRF Policy Control and Charging Rules Function

[0690] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol, Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer

[0691] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0692] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0693] PDN Packet Data Network, Public Data Network

[0694] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0695] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0696] PEI Persistent Equipment Identifier

[0697] PFD Packet Flow Description

[0698] P-GW PDN Gateway

[0699] PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel

[0700] PHY Physical Layer

[0701] PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

[0702] PIN Personal Identification Number

[0703] PM performance measurement

[0704] PMI Precoding matrix indicator

[0705] PNF Physical Network Function

[0706] PNFD Physical Network Functional Descriptor

[0707] PNFR Physical Network Function Record

[0708] POC PTT over Cellular

[0709] PP, PTP Point to Point

[0710] PPP Point-to-Point Protocol

[0711] PRACH Physical RACH

[0712] PRB Physical Resource Block

[0713] PRG Physical Resource Group

[0714] ProSe Proximity-based Services

[0715] PRS Positioning Reference Signal

[0716] PRR Packet Receive Radio

[0717] PS Packet Service

[0718] PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel

[0719] PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel

[0720] PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel

[0721] PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel

[0722] PSCell Primary SCell

[0723] PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

[0724] PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network

[0725] PT-RS Phase Tracking Reference Signal

[0726] PTT Push to Talk

[0727] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0728] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0729] QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

[0730] QCI QoS Class Identifier

[0731] QCL Quasi-Co-sited

[0732] QFI QoS flow ID, QoS flow identifier

[0733] QoS Quality of Service

[0734] QPSK Quadrature (Quaternary) Phase Shift Keying

[0735] QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

[0736] RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI

[0737] RAB Radio Access Bearer, Random Access Burst

[0738] RACH Random Access Channel

[0739] RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service

[0740] RAN Radio Access Network

[0741] RAND random number (for authentication)

[0742] RAR Random Access Response

[0743] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0744] RAU Routing Area Update

[0745] RB Resource Block, Radio Bearer

[0746] RBG Resource Block Group

[0747] REG Resource Element Group

[0748] Rel Release

[0749] REQ Request

[0750] RF

[0751] RI Rank Indicator

[0752] RIV Resource Indicator Value

[0753] RL Radio Link

[0754] RLC Radio Link Control, Radio Link Control Layer

[0755] RLC AM RLC Acknowledgement Mode

[0756] RLC UM RLC Unacknowledged Mode

[0757] RLF Radio Link Failure

[0758] RLM Radio Link Monitoring

[0759] RLM-RS Reference signal for RLM

[0760] RM Registration Management

[0761] RMC Reference Measurement Channel

[0762] RMSI Remaining MSI, Remaining Minimum System Information

[0763] RN Relay Node

[0764] RNC Radio Network Controller

[0765] RNL Radio Network Layer

[0766] RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0767] ROHC Robust Header Compression

[0768] RRC Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control Layer

[0769] RRM Radio Resource Management

[0770] RS reference signal

[0771] RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

[0772] RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality

[0773] RSSI Reference Signal Strength Indicator

[0774] RSU Road Side Unit

[0775] RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

[0776] RTP Real Time Protocol

[0777] RTS Ready to Send

[0778] RTT Round Trip Time

[0779] Rx receive, receive, receiver

[0780] S1AP S1 Application Protocol

[0781] S1-MME is used for S1 control plane

[0782] S1-U S1 for user plane

[0783] S-GW Service Gateway

[0784] S-RNTI SRNC Radio Network Temporary Identifier

[0785] S-TMSI SAE temporary mobile station identifier

[0786] SA Standalone Operation Mode

[0787] SAE system architecture evolution

[0788] SAP Service Access Point

[0789] SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor

[0790] SAPI Service Access Point Identifier

[0791] SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC

[0792] SCell Secondary Cell

[0793] SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0794] SCG Secondary Cell Group

[0795] SCM Security Context Management

[0796] SCS Subcarrier Spacing

[0797] SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol

[0798] SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol, Service Data Adaptation Protocol Layer

[0799] SDL Supplemental Downlink

[0800] SDNF Structured Data Storage Network Function

[0801] SDP Service Discovery Protocol (Bluetooth related)

[0802] SDSF structured data storage function

[0803] SDU Service Data Unit

[0804] SEAF Security Anchoring Function

[0805] SeNB Assisted eNB

[0806] SEPP Safety Edge Protection Pro14

[0807] SFI Slot Format Indicator

[0808] SFTD Space Frequency Time Diversity, SFN and Frame Timing Difference

[0809] SFN System Frame Number

[0810] SgNB

[0811] SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

[0812] S-GW Service Gateway

[0813] SI System Information

[0814] SI-RNTI System Information RNTI

[0815] SIB System Information Block

[0816] SIM Subscriber Identity Module

[0817] SIP Session Initiation Protocol

[0818] SiP System in Package

[0819] SL Side Link

[0820] SLA Service Level Agreement

[0821] SM Session Management

[0822] SMF session management functions

[0823] SMS Short Message Service

[0824] SMSF SMS Function

[0825] SMTC SSB-based measurement timing configuration

[0826] SN Secondary node, serial number

[0827] SoC System on Chip

[0828] SON Self-Organizing Network

[0829] SpCell Special Cell

[0830] SP-CSI-RNTI Semi-persistent CSI RNTI

[0831] SPS Semi-persistent Scheduling

[0832] SQN Serial Number

[0833] SR Scheduling Request

[0834] SRB Signalling Radio Bearer

[0835] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0836] SS Sync Signal

[0837] SSB Synchronization Signal Block, SS / PBCH Block

[0838] SSBRI SS / PBCH block resource indicator, synchronization signal block resource indicator

[0839] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0840] SS-RSRP Reference signal received power based on synchronization signal

[0841] SS-RSRQ Reference signal reception quality based on synchronization signal

[0842] SS-SINR Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio based on synchronization signal

[0843] SSS Secondary synchronization signal

[0844] SSSG Search Space Group

[0845] SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator

[0846] SST Slice / Service Type

[0847] SU-MIMO Single User MIMO

[0848] SUL Supplementary Uplink

[0849] TA timing advance, tracking area

[0850] TAC Tracking Area Code

[0851] TAG Timing Advance Group

[0852] TAU Tracking Area Updates

[0853] TB Transfer Block

[0854] TBS Transport Block Size

[0855] TBD To be defined

[0856] TCI Transmission Configuration Indicator

[0857] TCP transport communication protocol

[0858] TDD Time Division Duplex

[0859] TDM Time Division Multiplexing

[0860] TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

[0861] TE Terminal Equipment

[0862] TEID Tunnel Endpoint Identifier

[0863] TFT Business Flow Template

[0864] TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

[0865] TNL Transport Network Layer

[0866] TPC Transmit Power Control

[0867] TPMI Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0868] TR Technical Report

[0869] TRP,TRxP Transmission Receive Point

[0870] TRS Tracking Reference Signal

[0871] TRx Transceiver

[0872] TS Technical Specification, Technical Standard

[0873] TTI Transmission Time Interval

[0874] Tx transmission, transmission, transmitter

[0875] U-RNTI UTRAN Radio Network Temporary Identity

[0876] UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

[0877] UCI Uplink Control Information

[0878] UE User Equipment

[0879] UDM Unified Data Management

[0880] UDP User Datagram Protocol

[0881] UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function

[0882] UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0883] UL Uplink

[0884] UM Unconfirmed Mode

[0885] UML Unified Modeling Language

[0886] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

[0887] UP User Plane

[0888] UPF User Plane Function

[0889] URI Uniform Resource Identifier

[0890] URL Uniform Resource Locator

[0891] URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low Latency

[0892] USB Universal Serial Bus

[0893] USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

[0894] USS UE-specific search space

[0895] UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

[0896] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

[0897] UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot

[0898] V2I Vehicle to Infrastructure

[0899] V2P Vehicle to Pedestrian

[0900] V2V Vehicle to Vehicle

[0901] V2X: Vehicle-to-Everything

[0902] VIM Virtualization Infrastructure Manager

[0903] VL Virtual Link

[0904] VLAN virtual LAN, virtual local area network

[0905] VM Virtual Machine

[0906] VNF Virtualized Network Function

[0907] VNFFG VNF forwarding graph

[0908] VNFFGD VNF Forwarding Graph Descriptor

[0909] VNFM VNF Manager

[0910] VoIP Voice over IP, Voice over Internet Protocol

[0911] VPLMN Visited Public Land Mobile Network

[0912] VPN Virtual Private Network

[0913] VRB Virtual Resource Block

[0914] WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

[0915] WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

[0916] WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

[0917] WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network

[0918] X2-C X2 control plane

[0919] X2-U X2 user plane

[0920] XML Extensible Markup Language

[0921] XRES Expected User Response

[0922] XOR

[0923] ZC Zadoff-Chu

[0924] ZP Zero Power

[0925] the term

[0926] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply to the examples and implementations discussed herein.

[0927] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a hardware component such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and / or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) configured to provide the described functionality, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable SoC), a digital signal processor (DSP), etc. In some embodiments, the circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functionality. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and a program code for performing the functions of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In some embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0928] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes). The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuit" and may be referred to as "processor circuit".

[0929] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to a circuit that enables, is a part of, or includes information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, etc.

[0930] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and can describe a remote user of network resources in a communication network. In addition, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. In addition, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0931] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, router, switch, hub, bridge, radio network controller, RAN equipment, RAN node, gateway, server, virtualized VNF, NFVI, etc.

[0932] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0933] As used herein, the terms "appliance", "computer appliance", etc. refer to a computer device or computer system with program code (e.g., software or firmware) that is specifically designed to provide specific computing resources. A "virtual appliance" is a virtual machine image to be implemented by a device equipped with a hypervisor that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance or is otherwise dedicated to providing specific computing resources.

[0934] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, and / or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, a memory space, a processor / CPU time and / or a processor / CPU usage rate, a processor and accelerator load, a hardware time or usage rate, a power supply, an input / output operation, a port or a network socket, a channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage rate, storage, a network, a database and an application, a unit of work, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage and / or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage and / or network resources provided by a virtualized infrastructure to an application, a device, a system, etc. The term "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources that a computer device / system can access via a communication network. The term "system resources" may refer to any kind of shared entity that provides a service, and may include computing resources and / or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services that can be accessed through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and can be clearly identified.

[0935] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous and / or equivalent to "communication channel", "data communication channel", "transmission channel", "data transmission channel", "access channel", "data access channel", "link", "data link", "carrier", "radio frequency carrier" and / or any other similar terms representing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. In addition, the term "link" as used herein refers to a connection between two devices for transmitting and receiving information over a RAT.

[0936] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0937] The terms "coupled," "communicatively coupled," and their derivatives are used herein. The term "coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, may mean that two or more elements are in indirect contact with each other but still cooperate or interact with each other, and / or may mean that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between the elements said to be coupled to each other. The term "directly coupled" may mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with each other. The term "communicatively coupled" may mean that two or more elements may be in contact with each other by means of communication, including through a wire or other interconnect connection, through a wireless communication channel or link, etc.

[0938] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains the contents.

[0939] The term "SMTC" refers to the SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

[0940] The term "SSB" refers to SS / PBCH block.

[0941] The term "primary cell" refers to an MCG cell operating on a primary frequency, where the UE either performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection re-establishment procedure.

[0942] The term "primary SCG cell" refers to an SCG cell in which a UE performs random access when reconfiguration is performed using a synchronization procedure for DC operation.

[0943] The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a special cell for a UE configured with CA.

[0944] The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells including a PSCell for a UE configured with DC and zero or more secondary cells.

[0945] The term "serving cell" refers to a primary cell for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED without CA / DC configured, where there is only one serving cell including the primary cell.

[0946] The term "serving cell" refers to a cell set including a special cell for a UE configured with CA / in RRC_CONNECTED and all secondary cells.

[0947] The term "special cell" refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCG for DC operation; otherwise, the term "special cell" refers to the Pcell.

[0948] As described above, various aspects of the present technology may include collecting and using data available from various sources, thereby (for example) improving or enhancing functionality. The present disclosure contemplates that, in some instances, these collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specific person. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, phone numbers, email addresses, Twitter IDs, home addresses, data or records related to the 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. The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the present technology can be used to benefit users.

[0949] The present disclosure envisions 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 recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining the privacy and security of personal information data. Such policies should be easily accessible to users and should be updated as the collection and / or use of data changes. Personal information from users should be collected for the legitimate and reasonable purposes of the entity and not shared or sold outside of these legitimate uses. In addition, such collection / sharing should only be done after receiving the user's informed consent. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to defend and safeguard access to such personal information data and ensure that others who have access to personal information data comply with their privacy policies and processes. In addition, such entities may subject themselves to third-party assessments to demonstrate their compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adjusted to specific types of personal information data collected and / or accessed, and to applicable laws and standards that include specific considerations of jurisdiction. For example, in the United States, the collection or access of certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly. Therefore, different privacy practices should be maintained in each country for different types of personal data.

[0950] Regardless of the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates implementation schemes in which users selectively block the use or access of personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates providing hardware elements and / or software elements to prevent or block access to such personal information data. For example, the present technology may be configured to allow users to selectively participate in "opt-in" or "opt-out" of collecting personal information data at any time during (for example) registration for a service or thereafter. In addition to providing "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the present disclosure contemplates providing notifications related to access or use of personal information. For example, a user may be notified that their personal information data will be accessed when downloading an application, and then reminded again just before the personal information data is accessed by the application.

[0951] In addition, it is an object of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risks can be minimized by limiting data collection and deleting data once it is no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect the privacy of users. De-identification can be facilitated 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 at the address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data between users), and / or other methods when appropriate.

[0952] Thus, while the present disclosure may broadly cover the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that various embodiments may also be implemented without access to such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology will not fail to function properly due to the lack of all or part of such personal information data.

Claims

1. A user equipment UE, include: Radio front-end circuits; and a processor circuit coupled to the radio front end circuit and configured to: using the radio front end circuitry and receiving configuration data from a source device associated with a source cell; Based on the configuration data, determining a starting position and an ending position for transmitting data in a grant-based multi-slot physical uplink shared channel PUSCH within a shared channel occupation time COT, wherein the starting position depends on a first pre-dialogue listening LBT result; performing the first LBT; and In response to the performing, transmitting the data at the starting position in an available time slot of the shared COT using the radio front end circuit, The starting position occurs at an earlier position than a second starting position of a PUSCH based on a configuration grant, namely, a CG PUSCH in the shared COT.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: The first LBT is determined to be successful, wherein the data is continuously transmitted in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

3. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: It is determined that the first LBT is unsuccessful, wherein the available time slot occurs after a time slot corresponding to the first LBT, and wherein the data is continuously transmitted in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein to perform the first LBT, the processor circuit is configured to: attempting the first LBT at a first symbol of the available time slot; Determining that the first LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted in remaining symbols of the available time slot using the radio front end circuitry.

5. The UE according to claim 4, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to: Attempting a second LBT at the first symbol of the next available time slot; determining that the second LBT is successful; and The data is transmitted in remaining symbols of the next available time slot using the radio front end circuit, wherein the data is discontinuous with the data transmitted in the available time slot.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein to perform the first LBT, the processor circuit is configured to: attempting the first LBT at a first symbol of the available time slot; determining that the first LBT was unsuccessful; attempting a second LBT at a second symbol of the available time slot; Determining that the second LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted using the radio front end circuitry, wherein the transmission is punctured or rate matched in remaining symbols of the available time slot. 7 . The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor circuit is configured to receive the configuration data via a downlink control information (DCI) signal or a higher layer signal.

8. A method for wireless communication, include: Receiving, by a user equipment UE and from a source device associated with a source cell, configuration data; Determining, by the UE and based on the configuration data, a starting position for transmitting data in a grant-based multi-slot physical uplink shared channel PUSCH within a shared channel occupation time COT, wherein the starting position depends on a first pre-dialogue listening LBT result; performing, by the UE, the first LBT; and In response to the performing, transmitting, by the UE, the data at the starting position in an available time slot of the COT, The starting position occurs at an earlier position than a second starting position of a PUSCH based on a configuration grant, namely, a CG PUSCH in the shared COT.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: include: The first LBT is determined to be successful by the UE, wherein the data is continuously transmitted in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: include: The first LBT is determined, by the UE, to be unsuccessful, wherein the available time slot occurs after a time slot corresponding to the first LBT, and wherein the data is continuously transmitted in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein performing the first LBT include: Attempting, by the UE, the first LBT at a first symbol of the available time slot; Determining, by the UE, that the first LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted by the UE in the remaining symbols of the available time slot.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: include: Attempting, by the UE, a second LBT at a first symbol of a next available time slot; Determining, by the UE, that the second LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted by the UE in remaining symbols of the next available time slot, wherein the data is not continuous with the data transmitted in the available time slot.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein performing the first LBT include: Attempting, by the UE, the first LBT at a first symbol of the available time slot; Determining, by the UE, that the first LBT is unsuccessful; Attempting, by the UE, a second LBT at a second symbol of the available time slot; Determining, by the UE, that the second LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted by the UE, wherein the transmission is punctured or rate matched in remaining symbols of the available time slot.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the configuration data comprises receiving the configuration data via a downlink control information (DCI) signal or a higher layer signal.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE), cause the processor to perform operations, wherein the operations include: receiving configuration data from a source device associated with a source cell; Based on the configuration data, determining a starting position and an ending position for transmitting data in a grant-based multi-slot physical uplink shared channel PUSCH within a shared channel occupation time COT, wherein the starting position depends on a first pre-dialogue listening LBT result; performing the first LBT at a first symbol of an available time slot of the shared COT; and In response to the performing, transmitting the data at the starting position in the available time slot of the shared COT, The starting position occurs at an earlier position than a second starting position of a PUSCH based on a configuration grant, namely, a CG PUSCH in the shared COT.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising: include: The first LBT is determined to be successful, wherein the data is continuously transmitted in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising: include: It is determined that the first LBT is unsuccessful, wherein the available time slot occurs after a time slot corresponding to the first LBT, and wherein the data is continuously transmitted in a plurality of time slots corresponding to a plurality of uplink time slots of the shared COT.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein performing the first LBT operation include: Determining that the first LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted in the remaining symbols of the available time slot.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operation further include: Attempting a second LBT at the first symbol of the next available time slot; Determining that the second LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted in remaining symbols of the next available time slot, wherein the data is not continuous with the data transmitted in the available time slot.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein executing the first LBT include: determining that the first LBT was unsuccessful; attempting a second LBT at a second symbol of the available time slot; Determining that the second LBT is successful; as well as The data is transmitted, wherein the transmission is punctured or rate matched in the remaining symbols of the available time slot.

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