Handling intra-user equipment uplink overlapping grants

Abstract

Methods of processing one or more internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL) overlapping grants. At least one of the methods includes configuring a logical channel (LC) with a parameter that defines a reliability metric associated with the LC, determining that a grant satisfies a reliability requirement based on the parameter, and transmitting data associated with the LC using the grant.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 833,479, filed April 12, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates in its entirety to wireless communications, including methods, apparatus, and systems for processing overlapping licensing of internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL). Background Technology

[0004] The use of wireless communication systems is growing rapidly. Furthermore, wireless communication technology has evolved from voice communication only to include the transmission of data (such as the internet and multimedia content) to various devices. To accommodate the increasing number of devices transmitting both voice and data signals, many wireless communication systems share available communication channel resources between devices.

[0005] Fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) can refer to New Radio Access Technology (RAT) developed for 5G mobile networks. In some cases, it is designed as a global standard for the air interface of 5G networks. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping grants on an internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL). The method includes configuring a logical channel (LC) using parameters that define a reliability metric associated with the LC. The method includes determining, based on the parameters, that the grant meets reliability requirements. The method includes using the grant to transmit data associated with the LC.

[0007] The reliability metric may correspond to the Support Element (SE) requirement of the LC. The authorization may include an SE that is less than or equal to the SE requirement of the LC. The authorization may include a Configuration Authorization (CG) or a Dynamic Authorization (DG).

[0008] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping grants on an internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL). The method includes having the UE receive or cause the reception of a dynamic grant (DG) and a configuration grant (CG), wherein the SE associated with the DG is less than or equal to the SE associated with the CG. The method includes determining or causing a determination that the DG has met reliability requirements associated with high-priority data, which is scheduled for transmission using the CG. The method also includes using the DG to transmit or causing the transmission of the high-priority data.

[0009] High-priority data may include time-sensitive data. The Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (PDU) associated with the DG may include data for the Service Data Unit (SDU) associated with the CG.

[0010] The method may further include, in response to receiving one or more Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (PDUs) associated with the CG and DG, preempting or causing preemption of the CG's transmission of high-priority data by using the DG's transmission of high-priority data. The method may also include refreshing or causing refreshing the buffer associated with a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure for the CG. The method may further include transmitting or causing transmission of data associated with a MAC Service Data Unit (SDU) to the Logical Channel (LC).

[0011] Downlink control information (DCI) may include DG or CG. Data associated with MAC SDU may not have been transmitted by DG yet.

[0012] The method may also include terminating or causing a timer associated with the HARQ process used for CG to be terminated.

[0013] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping grants on an internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL). The method includes having a next-generation node B (gNB) determine, or cause to determine, that the SE associated with a dynamic grant (DG) is less than or equal to the SE associated with an overlapping configuration grant (CG). The method includes determining, or causing to determine, that the DG has met reliability requirements associated with high-priority data, which is scheduled for transmission using the CG. The method includes using the DG to schedule or schedule the transmission of the high-priority data.

[0014] The method may also include transmitting or causing transmission of DG and CG to a user equipment (UE). The method may also include detecting or causing detection of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by the DG for transmission.

[0015] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping uplink (UL) grants for an internal user equipment (UE). The method includes receiving, or causing the UE to receive, a dynamic grant (DG) and a configured grant (CG), wherein the SE associated with the DG is greater than the SE associated with the CG. The method includes determining, or causing a determination to be made, whether data to be transmitted by the UE includes high-priority data or low-priority data. The method includes, in response to determining that the data to be transmitted includes high-priority data, using the CG to schedule, or causing a scheduling of transmission of the high-priority data.

[0016] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping uplink (UL) grants for an internal user equipment (UE). The method includes receiving, or causing the UE to receive, a dynamic grant (DG) and a configured grant (CG), wherein the SE associated with the DG is greater than the SE associated with the CG. The method includes determining, or causing a determination, whether data to be transmitted includes high-priority data or low-priority data. The method includes, in response to determining that the data includes low-priority data, using the DG to schedule, or causing a scheduling of transmission of the low-priority data.

[0017] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping grants on an internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL). The method includes receiving or causing the UE to receive a dynamic grant (DG) and a configuration grant (CG), wherein the SE associated with the DG is greater than the SE associated with the CG. The method includes determining or causing a determination that data to be transmitted includes high-priority data or low-priority data. The method includes, in response to determining that the data to be transmitted includes low-priority data, using the CG to terminate or cause a termination of scheduled transmission of the low-priority data. The method includes using the DG to schedule or cause a scheduling of transmission of the low-priority data.

[0018] Low-priority data can be transmitted with high spectral efficiency. The method may also include refreshing or causing refreshing to be associated with a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure for the CG. The method may also include terminating or causing termination of a timer associated with a HARQ procedure for the CG. The method may further include, in response to two requests to retransmit high-priority or low-priority data, using or causing transmission of either high-priority or low-priority data from a group consisting of CG and DG.

[0019] In one aspect, a method is provided for processing overlapping uplink (UL) grants for internal user equipment (UE). The method includes transmitting or causing a Transport Configuration Grant (CG) and a Dynamic Grant (DG) from a next-generation node B (gNB) to the UE, wherein the SE associated with the DG is greater than the SE associated with the CG. The method includes using the CG or DG to receive or cause receiving the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), wherein the PUSCH is received using the CG when the data to be transmitted includes high-priority data, and the PUSCH is received using the DG when the data to be transmitted includes low-priority data. The method includes decoding or causing decoding of the CG and DG to locate the PUSCH.

[0020] The method may further include, in response to a failure to locate the PUSCH, transmitting or causing the transmission of two retransmission requests to the UE. The method may further include, receiving or causing the reception of a PUSCH selected from one of the groups consisting of CG and DG, from the UE. The method may further include, processing one of the groups consisting of CG and DG, to locate the PUSCH.

[0021] In one aspect, a method for processing overlapping grants on an internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL) is provided. The method includes facilitating or causing a decision to be made as to whether the grant meets the reliability requirements of the logical channel by configuring each logical channel with additional parameters, the additional parameters defining a reliability requirement metric configured for the corresponding logical channel.

[0022] In one aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes means for performing one or more elements of the aforementioned method.

[0023] In one aspect, one or more non-transitory computer-readable media are provided, the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the aforementioned method.

[0024] In one aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes logic components, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of the aforementioned method.

[0025] In one aspect, an apparatus is provided comprising one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of the aforementioned method.

[0026] In one aspect, an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions is provided, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of the aforementioned method.

[0027] In one aspect, a processing element including instructions is provided, wherein execution of a program by the processing element will cause the processing element to perform one or more elements of the aforementioned method.

[0028] Details of one or more specific embodiments are set forth in the following figures and description. Other features and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description, the figures, and the claims. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figures 1 to 3 An exemplary wireless communication system is shown.

[0030] Figure 4 Examples of infrastructure equipment are shown.

[0031] Figure 5 Examples of platforms or devices are provided.

[0032] Figure 6 Exemplary components of the baseband circuit and radio front-end circuit are shown.

[0033] Figure 7 Exemplary components of a cellular communication circuit are illustrated.

[0034] Figure 8 Example protocol functions that can be implemented in wireless communication systems are illustrated.

[0035] Figure 9 An exemplary component of the core network is shown.

[0036] Figure 10 An exemplary system supporting network function virtualization is shown.

[0037] Figure 11 An exemplary computer system is shown.

[0038] Figure 12 An exemplary method for handling overlapping authorization of internal user equipment (UE) uplink (UL) is shown.

[0039] Figure 13A An example of preemptive transmission (deterministic preemption) of high-priority data based on dynamic grant (DG) is shown.

[0040] Figure 13B An example of preemptive preemption using DG scheduling for efficient spectrum transmission is shown.

[0041] Similar reference symbols in the various figures indicate similar elements. Detailed Implementation

[0042] Conflicts between internal user equipment (UE) grants can arise from the support of hybrid services. Addressing these overlapping grants can be critical. In some specific implementations, the detailed objective for prioritizing / multiplexing internal UEs for New Radio (NR) is to specify enhancements to resolve resource conflicts between Dynamic Grant (DG) and Configuration Grant (CG) Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), as well as conflicts involving multiple CGs.

[0043] In some specific implementations, a conflict occurs when a CG with data ready to be transmitted exists and the UE receives another authorization to transmit its newly arrived data on it. In this case, according to the current procedure in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.331 (Version 15), the conflict is handled as follows:

[0044] For each serving cell and each configured uplink grant, if it is configured and activated, the MAC entity should:

[0045] ●If the PUSCH duration configured for uplink grant does not overlap with the PUSCH duration of uplink grant received on the PDCCH or in the random access response of the serving cell, then:

[0046] Set the HARQ process ID to the HARQ process ID associated with the duration of this PUSCH;

[0047] ○ If the configuration authorization timer for the corresponding HARQ procedure is not running, then:

[0048] ■ Consider the NDI bit of the corresponding HARQ procedure that has been switched.

[0049] The UE's Media Access Control (MAC) may not be aware that data scheduled for the CG was lost due to preemptive transmission in the physical layer (PHY). Conversely, if no retransmission DG is received from the gNB within the configuration grant timer period, the UE can assume that it was correctly received by the next-generation node B (gNB).

[0050] When skipUplinkTxDynamic is enabled via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, the UE can skip CG transmissions even with an empty buffer. Therefore, in preemptive situations, based on the current specification, in some specific implementations, the gNB cannot distinguish whether a CG transmission was canceled at the PHY due to another overlapping grant, or whether the UE has already skipped the CG transmission due to an empty buffer. In the former case, the gNB may need to send a retransmission uplink (UL) grant within the configuration grant timer period. In the latter case, the gNB may not request a retransmission.

[0051] Specific embodiments of this disclosure provide techniques for handling overlapping UL grants (including CGs or DGs). Deterministic or preemptive transmissions scheduled by the DG can be performed via the CG, depending on the configuration reliability of the DG. In some embodiments, logical channels can be configured with an additional parameter (“seLimit”) that limits the required reliability metric based on the spectral efficiency for the corresponding logical channel. In such embodiments, grants (including CGs or DGs) cannot be used to transmit LC data, where the corresponding SE of the grant is greater than the SE requirement of the LC.

[0052] In some implementations, the DG can satisfy the reliability requirements of high-priority data scheduled by the overlapping CG. In such implementations, the DG can preempt CG-based transmissions of the PHY. Since the gNB knows that the DG will overwrite the overlapping CG, the gNB detects the PUSCH scheduled by the DG and ignores the transmissions scheduled by the overlapping CG.

[0053] In some implementations, the Direct Generation (DG) cannot meet the reliability requirements of high-priority data scheduled by the overlapping CG. In such implementations, if high-priority data exists to be transmitted by the CG, the UE can transmit the PUSCH scheduled by the CG and ignore the DG. Otherwise, the UE can use the DG to transmit low-priority data with high spectral efficiency. Additionally, the gNB can blindly decode two transmissions and send retransmission requests until a PUSCH is successfully decoded, and can identify and ignore preempted authorizations.

[0054] Therefore, specific embodiments of this disclosure can help enable the LC to signal the required reliability metrics for determining applicable licenses. Furthermore, specific embodiments of this disclosure can facilitate handling overlapping licenses (including CG or DG), allowing high-priority data to be robustly licensed for transmission, while low-priority data can be served by spectrum-efficiently licensed services. This optimizes and enhances overall system performance compared to conventional techniques.

[0055] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. For convenience and not limitation, the exemplary system 100 is described in the context of LTE and 5G NR communication standards defined by the 3GPP technical specifications. However, the techniques described herein can also be implemented in other communication systems using other communication standards such as other 3GPP standards or IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN or WiMAX).

[0056] System 100 includes UE 101a and UE 101b (collectively referred to as "UE 101"). In this example, UE 101 is shown as a smartphone (e.g., a handheld touchscreen mobile computing device that can connect to one or more cellular networks). In other examples, any of the multiple UE 101s may include other mobile computing devices or non-mobile computing devices, such as consumer electronics devices, cellular phones, smartphones, feature phones, tablets, wearable computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument panel (IC), head-up display (HUD) devices, onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices, in-vehicle mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminal (MDT), electronic engine management system (EEMS), electronic / engine control unit (ECU), electronic / engine control module (ECM), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management system (EMS), connected or “smart” appliances, machine-type communication (MTC) devices, machine-to-machine (M2M) devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, or combinations thereof.

[0057] In some examples, any of the multiple UEs 101 can be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed to utilize low-power IoT applications with short-lived UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), Proximity Service (ProSe), Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, IoT networks, or combinations thereof. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keeping track of active messages or state updates) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.

[0058] UE 101 is configured to connect (e.g., communicatively coupled) to an access network (AN) or radio access network (RAN) 110. In some examples, RAN 110 may be a next-generation RAN (NG RAN), an evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), or a legacy RAN, such as a UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) or a GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN). As used herein, the term “NG RAN” may refer to RAN 110 operating in a 5G NR system 100, while the term “E-UTRAN” may refer to RAN 110 operating in an LTE or 4G system 100.

[0059] To connect to RAN 110, multiple UEs 101 utilize connections (or channels) 103 and 104, each of which may include a physical communication interface or layer, as described below. In this example, connections 103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces for communication coupling and may be consistent with cellular communication protocols such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network protocol, Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, Cellular PTT (POC) protocol, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, 3GPP LTE protocol, 5G NR protocol, or combinations thereof, as well as other communication protocols. In some examples, multiple UEs 101 may directly exchange communication data using interface 105, such as the ProSe interface. Interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as sidelink interface 105 and may include one or more logical channels, such as the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel (PSDCH), or Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), or combinations thereof.

[0060] The diagram shows UE 101b configured to access access point (AP) 106 (also referred to as "WLAN node 106", "WLAN 106", "WLAN termination 106", "WT 106", etc.) using connection 107. Connection 107 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 106 will include Wireless Fibre. Router. In this example, AP 106 is shown connected to the Internet but not to the core network of the wireless system, as described in further detail below. In various examples, UE 101b, RAN 110, and AP 106 can be configured to operate using LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) or LTW / WLAN radio-level operation integrated with IPsec tunneling (LWIP). LWA operation may involve RAN nodes 111a and 111b configuring UE 101b, which is in the RRC_CONNECTED state, to utilize LTE and WLAN radio resources. LWIP operation may involve UE 101b using IPsec protocol tunneling to use WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 107) to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) transmitted through connection 107. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header to protect the original header of the IP packet.

[0061] RAN 110 includes one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 111a and 111b (collectively referred to as "RAN node 111") that enable connectivity between 103 and 104. As used herein, the terms "access node," "access point," etc., can describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for a data or voice connection or both between the network and one or more users. These access nodes can be referred to as base stations (BS), gNodeBs, gNBs, eNodeBs, eNBs, NodeBs, RAN nodes, road-side units (RSUs), transmit-receive points (TRxPs or TRPs), etc., and can include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node," etc., can refer to RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) operating in a 5G NR system 100, while the term "E-UT RAN node" can refer to RAN node 111 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. In some examples, multiple RAN nodes 111 may be implemented as dedicated physical devices such as macro cell base stations or low-power (LP) base stations for providing smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macro cells.

[0062] In some examples, some or all of the multiple RAN nodes 111 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a Cloud RAN (CRAN) or Virtual Baseband Unit Pool (vBBUP). The CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN function partitioning, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) partitioning, where the Radio Resource Control (RRC) and PDCP layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and other Layer 2 (e.g., Data Link Layer) protocol entities are operated by the individual RAN nodes 111; Media Access Control (MAC) / Physical Layer (PHY) partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, MAC, and Radio Link Control (RLC) layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by the individual RAN nodes 111; or a “lower PHY” partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers, as well as the upper portion of the PHY layer, are operated by CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portion of the PHY layer is operated by the individual RAN nodes 111. This virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the RAN nodes 111 to execute, for example, other virtualized applications. In some examples, a single RAN node 111 can represent the use of individual F1 interfaces ( Figure 1 (Not shown) to connect to the individual gNB distributed units (DUs) of the gNB central unit (CU). In some examples, a gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio head ends or RFEMs (see, for example, Figure 4 Furthermore, the gNB-CU can be operated by a server (not shown) located in RAN 110 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Alternatively, one or more RAN nodes in RAN 111 can be next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), including RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to UE 101 and connect to the 5G core network (e.g., core network 120) using next-generation interfaces.

[0063] In a Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) scenario, one or more RAN nodes in RAN nodes 111 can be RSUs or act as RSUs. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" refers to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. An RSU can be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE 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 some examples, an RSU is a computing device coupled to radio frequency circuitry located on the roadside, which provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE 101 (vUE 101). An RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications or other software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct Near Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low-latency communication required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance and traffic warnings. Alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communication as well as other cellular communication services. Alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communication, or both. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's radio frequency circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant package suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide wired connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) to traffic signal controllers or backhaul networks, or both.

[0064] Any of the RAN nodes 111 can serve as the endpoint of the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for UE 101. In some examples, any one of the multiple RAN nodes 111 can perform various logical functions of RAN 110, including but not limited to the functions of the Radio Network Controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0065] In some examples, multiple UEs 101 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of multiple RAN nodes 111 on a multi-carrier communication channel using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals, according to various communication technologies such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication technologies (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication technologies (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the technologies described herein is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0066] In some examples, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the multiple RAN nodes 111 to multiple UEs 101, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink within each time slot. This time-frequency plane representation is common practice for OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of a resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises multiple resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources currently available for allocation. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0067] In some examples, multiple UEs 101 and multiple RAN nodes 111 transmit (e.g., transmit and receive) data via licensed media (also referred to as “licensed spectrum” or “licensed band”) and unlicensed shared media (also referred to as “unlicensed spectrum” and / or “unlicensed band”). Licensed spectrum may include channels operating in the frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz band.

[0068] To operate in unlicensed spectrum, multiple UEs 101 and multiple RAN nodes 111 may use Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), Enhanced LAA (eLAA), or another Enhanced LAA (feLAA) mechanism. In these specific implementations, the multiple UEs 101 and multiple RAN nodes 111 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations or carrier sensing operations, or both, to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. Medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a Listen-After-Speak (LBT) protocol. LBT is a mechanism by which devices (e.g., multiple UEs 101, multiple RAN nodes 111) sense a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when that medium is sensed to be idle (or when a specific channel in that medium is sensed to be unoccupied). Medium sensing operations may include Clear Channel Assessment (CCA), which uses energy detection to determine the presence of other signals on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or cleared. This LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. Energy detection may include sensing RF energy in a desired transmission band over a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy with a predefined or configured threshold.

[0069] Existing systems in the 5GHz band can be WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ contention-based channel access mechanisms (e.g., CSMA with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA)). In some examples, when WLAN nodes (e.g., mobile stations (MS) such as UE 101, APs...) When a WLAN node (e.g., 106) intends to transmit, it may first perform a Contention-Based Arrangement (CCA) before transmission. Additionally, if more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. This backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly drawn within a Contention Window Size (CWS), which increases exponentially upon collision and resets to a minimum value upon successful transmission. In some examples, the LBT mechanism designed for LAA is similar to CSMA / CA for WLAN. In some examples, the LBT process for DL ​​or UL transmission bursts (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions) may have a variable-length LAA contention window between CAA (ECCA) slots extended in X and Y, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum CWS of the LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for an LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and the maximum channel occupancy time (e.g., transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0070] In some examples, the LAA mechanism is built on carrier aggregation technology in LTE-Advanced systems. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a component carrier. In some examples, component carriers can have bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five component carriers can be aggregated to provide a maximum aggregated bandwidth of 100 MHz. In Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, the number of aggregated carriers can differ for DL ​​and UL. For example, the number of UL component carriers can be equal to or less than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, individual component carriers can have different bandwidths than the other component carriers. In Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, the number of component carriers and the bandwidth of each component carrier are typically the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0071] Carrier aggregation can also include separate serving cells to provide separate component carriers. The coverage of serving cells can differ, for example, because component carriers in different frequency bands may experience different path losses. The primary serving cell (PCell) provides the primary component carrier for both UL and DL and handles RRC and non-access stratum (NAS) related activities. Other serving cells are referred to as secondary component carriers (SCells), and each SCell provides a separate secondary component carrier for both UL and DL. Secondary component carriers can be added and removed as needed, while changing the primary component carrier may require UE 101 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells can operate in unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and LAA SCells are assisted by PCells operating in licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured to have more than one LAA SCell, the UE can receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0072] The PDSCH carries user data and higher-layer signaling to multiple UEs 101. Among other information, the PDCCH carries information about the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform UEs 101 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Downlink scheduling (e.g., allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 101b within the cell) can be performed at any of the RAN nodes 111 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 101. Downlink resource allocation information can be transmitted on the PDCCH used for (e.g., allocated to) each UE in UEs 101.

[0073] PDCCH uses Control Channel Elements (CCEs) to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the complex-valued symbols of the PDCCH can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. In some examples, one or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to a set of four physical resource elements (REGs) of nine. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the Downlink Control Information (DCI) and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. In LTE, four or more different PDCCH formats can exist, each defined with a different number of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L = 1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0074] Some implementations may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the concept described above. For example, some implementations may utilize an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more enhanced CCEs (ECCEs) may be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similarly, each ECCE may correspond to a set of nine groups comprising four physical resource elements, collectively referred to as enhanced REGs (EREGs). In some examples, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.

[0075] RAN nodes 111 are configured to communicate with each other using interface 112. In the example, such as if system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when core network 120 is...), Figure 2In the case of the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network shown, interface 112 can be an X2 interface 112. The X2 interface can be defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to EPC 120, or between two eNBs connected to EPC 120, or both. In some examples, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). X2-U can provide flow control mechanisms for user packets transmitted via the X2 interface and can be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, X2-U can provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the primary eNB to the secondary eNB; information about the successful in-order delivery of PDCP Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from the secondary eNB to UE 101 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to UE 101; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the secondary eNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. The X2-C provides LTE intra-eNB access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the destination eNB, or user plane transmission control; load management functions; inter-cell interference coordination functions; and so on.

[0076] In some examples, such as when system 100 is a 5G NR system (e.g., when core network 120 is as follows), Figure 3In the 5G core network shown, interface 112 can be an Xn interface 112. The Xn interface can be defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5G core network 120, between a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the 5G core network 120 and an eNB, or between two eNBs connected to the 5G core network 120, or a combination of the above. In some examples, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. Xn-U provides non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and supports / provides data forwarding and flow control functions. Xn-C provides management and error handling functions for managing the functionality of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 101 in connected modes (e.g., CM-CONNECTED), including functions for managing UE mobility in connected modes between one or more RAN nodes 111; and so on. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 111 to the new (destination) serving RAN node 111, and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 111 and the new (destination) serving RAN node 111. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP-U) layer on top of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or IP layer, or both, for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on top of the Flow Control Transport Protocol (SCTP). SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and provides guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack or the Xn-C protocol stack, or both, may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0077] RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to core network 120 (referred to as “CN 120”). CN 120 includes one or more network elements 122 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 101) connecting to CN 120 via RAN 110. Components of CN 120 may be implemented in a single physical node or individual physical nodes and may include components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some examples, network function virtualization (NFV) may be used to virtualize some or all of the network node functions described herein using executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media, as will be described in further detail below. A logical instance of CN 120 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 120 may be referred to as a network subslice. NFV architectures and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (or alternatively, performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, an NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable concrete implementation of one or more network components or functions, or both.

[0078] Generally, application server 130 may be an element that provides IP bearer resources for use with the core network (e.g., UMTS packet service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). Application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services for UE 101 using CN 120 (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.).

[0079] In some examples, CN 120 can be a 5G core network (referred to as "5GC 120"), and RAN 110 can connect to CN 120 using Next Generation Interface 113. In some examples, Next Generation Interface 113 can be divided into two parts: Next Generation User Plane (NG-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between multiple RAN nodes 111 and User Plane Functions (UPFs); and S1 Control Plane (NG-C) interface 115, which is the signaling interface between RAN nodes 111 and Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs). Reference Figure 3 A more detailed discussion will be given of CN 120 as an example of 5GC 120.

[0080] In some examples, CN 120 may be an EPC (referred to as "EPC 120", etc.), and RAN 110 may connect to CN 120 using S1 interface 113. In some examples, S1 interface 113 may be divided into two parts: S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and the Serving Gateway (S-GW); and S1-MME interface 115, which is the signaling interface between RAN node 111 and the Mobility Management Entity (MME).

[0081] Figure 2 An exemplary architecture of a system 200 including a first CN 220 is shown. In this example, the system 200 can implement the LTE standard, such that the CN 220 is corresponding to... Figure 1 CN 120's EPC 220. Additionally, UE 201 can be used with... Figure 1 The UE 101 is the same as or similar to the E-UTRAN 210, and the E-UTRAN 210 can be the same as the UE 101. Figure 1 The RAN 110 is the same as or similar to the RAN 111 discussed earlier. The CN 220 may include the MEE 221, S-GW 222, PDN gateway (P-GW) 223, High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSS) function 224, and Serving GPRS Support Node (GENEVA) 225.

[0082] The MME 221 is functionally similar to the control plane of a traditional SGSN and can implement mobility management (MM) functions to keep track of the current location of UE 201. The MME 221 can perform various mobility management procedures to manage mobility aspects of access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. Mobility management (also known as “EPSMM” or “EMM” in E-UTRAN systems) can refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data storage, etc., used to maintain knowledge about the current location of UE 201, provide user / subscriber confidentiality, or perform other similar services, or combinations thereof. Each UE 201 and MME 221 may include an EMM sublayer, and a mobility management context can be established in both UE 201 and MME 221 upon successful attachment. The mobility management context can be a data structure or database object that stores mobility management-related information for UE 201. MME 221 can be coupled to HSS 224 using reference point S6a, to SGSN 225 using reference point S3, and to S-GW 222 using reference point S11.

[0083] SGSN 225 can be a node that serves UE 201 by tracking the location of the individual UE 201 and performing security functions. Furthermore, SGSN 225 can perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; such as PDN and S-GW selection specified by MME 221; handling of UE 201 time zone functions, as specified by MME 221; and MME selection for handover to E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks, etc. The S3 reference point between MME 221 and SGSN 225 can enable user and bearer information exchange for 3GPP indirect access network mobility in idle, active, or both states.

[0084] HSS 224 may include a database for network users, containing subscription-related information to support network entities in handling communication sessions. EPC 220 may include one or more HSS 224s, depending on the number of mobile users, equipment capacity, network organization, or a combination thereof. For example, HSS 224 may provide support for routing, roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between HSS 224 and MEE 221 enables the transmission of subscription and authentication data between HSS 224 and MEE 221 for authenticating or authorizing user access to EPC 220.

[0085] S-GW 222 can terminate S1 interface 113 towards RAN 210 ( Figure 2 The S-GW 222 (referred to as "S1-U") can route data packets between RAN 210 and EPC 220. Additionally, the S-GW 222 can serve as a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handover and can also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and enforcement of certain policies. The S11 reference point between the S-GW 222 and MME 221 provides a control plane between MME 221 and S-GW 222. The S-GW 222 can be coupled to the P-GW 223 using the S5 reference point.

[0086] The P-GW 223 can terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN 230. The P-GW 223 can use IP interface 125 (see, for example, Figure 1 The P-GW 223 routes data packets between the EPC 220 and external networks, such as a network including an application server 130 (sometimes referred to as "AF"). In some examples, the P-GW 223 may use IP communication interface 125 (see, for example, Figure 1 Communication is coupled to the application server (e.g., Figure 1 Application server 130 or Figure 2The S5 reference point between P-GW 223 and S-GW 222 can provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between P-GW 223 and S-GW 222. The S5 reference point can also be used for S-GW 222 relocation due to the mobility of UE 201 and whether S-GW 222 needs to connect to the non-co-located P-GW 223 for required PDN connectivity. P-GW 223 may also include nodes for policy enforcement and charging data collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi reference point between P-GW 223 and Packet Data Network (PDN) 230 can be an external public or private PDN or an internal operator packet data network, for example, for providing IMS services. P-GW 223 can utilize the Gx reference point to couple with Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 226.

[0087] PCRF 226 is the policy and charging control element of EPC 220. In non-roaming scenarios, a single PCRF 226 may exist in the domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with the Internet Protocol Connection Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE 201. In roaming scenarios with local traffic breaches, two PCRFs may exist associated with the IP-CAN session of UE 201: the domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and the visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). PCRF 226 can be communicatively coupled to application server 230 using P-GW 223. Application server 230 can signal PCRF 226 to indicate new service flows and select appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. PCRF 226 can configure this rule as a PCEF (not shown) with an appropriate Traffic Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI), which begins with the QoS and charging specified by application server 230. The Gx reference point between PCRF 226 and P-GW 223 allows QoS policies and charging rules to be transferred from PCRF 226 to PCRF in P-GW 223. The Rx reference point can reside between PDN 230 (or "AF230") and PCRF 226.

[0088] Figure 3The architecture of system 300, including second CN 320, is shown. System 300 is shown as including UE 301, which may be the same as or similar to UE 101 and UE 201 discussed previously; (R)AN 310, which may be the same as or similar to RAN 110 and RAN 210 discussed previously, and may include RAN node 111 discussed previously; and data network (DN) 303, which may be, for example, operator service, Internet access, or third-party service; and 5GC 320. 5GC 320 may include Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 322; Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 321; Session Management Function (SMF) 324; Network Exposure Function (NEF) 323; Policy Control Function (PCF) 326; Network Repository Function (NRF) 325; Unified Data Management (UDM) Function 327; AF 328; User Plane Function (UPF) 302; and Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 329.

[0089] UPF 302 can act as an anchor point for mobility within and between RATs, an external PDU session point interconnected with DN 303, and a branch point supporting multihomed PDU sessions. UPF 302 can also perform packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane portion of policy rules, lawful packet interception (UP collection), traffic usage reporting, QoS processing on the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), uplink traffic authentication (e.g., SDF-to-QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 302 may include an uplink classifier to support traffic flow routing to the data network. DN 303 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. DN 303 may include or be similar to the previously discussed application server 130. UPF 302 can interact with SMF 324 using the N4 reference point between SMF 324 and UPF 302.

[0090] The AUSF 322 stores data for authentication of the UE 301 and handles authentication-related functions. The AUSF 322 facilitates common authentication frameworks for various access types. The AUSF 322 can communicate with the AMF 321 using the N12 reference point between the AMF 321 and the AUSF 322, and with the UDM 327 using the N13 reference point between the UDM 327 and the AUSF 322. Additionally, the AUSF 322 can present an interface based on Nausf services.

[0091] AMF 321 is responsible for registration management (e.g., registering UE 301, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 321 can be the termination point of the N11 reference point between AMF 321 and SMF 324. AMF 321 can provide the transmission of SM messages between UE 301 and SMF 324 and acts as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 321 can also provide the transmission of SM messages between UE 301 and SMF 324. Figure 3 Transmission of SMS messages between (not shown in the diagram). AMF 321 can act as a Security Anchoring Function (SEAF), which may include interaction with AUSF 322 and UE 301 to, for example, receive an intermediate key established due to the UE 301 authentication process. In the case of authentication using the Universal User Identity Module (UMTS), AMF 321 may retrieve security material from AUSF 322. AMF 321 may also include a Security Context Management (SCM) function that receives keys from the SEAF to derive access network-specific keys. Furthermore, AMF 321 may be the termination point of the RAN control plane interface, which may include or be the N2 reference point between (R)AN 310 and AMF 321. In some examples, AMF 321 may be the termination point of NAS (N1) signaling and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0092] AMF 321 can also support NAS signaling with UE 301 via the N3 Interoperability Function (IWF) interface (referred to as "N3IWF"). N3IWF can be used to provide access to untrusted entities. N3IWF can be the termination point of the N2 interface between the control plane (R)AN 310 and AMF 321, and can be the termination point of the N3 reference point between the user plane (R)AN 310 and UPF 302. Therefore, AMF 321 can process N2 signaling from SMF 324 and AMF 321 for PDU sessions and QoS, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunneling, mark N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to the N3 packet markings, taking into account the QoS requirements associated with such markings received via N2. The N3IWF can also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between UE 301 and AMF 321 using the N1 reference point between UE 301 and AMF 321, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between UE 301 and UPF 302. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing IPsec tunnels using UE 301. AMF 321 can present an interface based on Namf services and can be the N14 reference point between two AMF 321s and the AMF 321 with the 5G Device Identity Register (EIR). Figure 3 The endpoint of the N17 reference point (not shown).

[0093] UE 301 can register with AMF 321 to receive network services. Registration Management (RM) is used to register UE 301 with or deregister UE 301 with the network (e.g., AMF 321) and to establish a UE context within the network (e.g., AMF 321). UE 301 can operate in either RM-REGISTERED or RM-DEREGISTERED states. In RM DEREGISTERED state, UE 301 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 321 does not maintain valid location or routing information for UE 301; therefore, AMF 321 cannot reach UE 301. In RM REGISTERED state, UE 301 is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 321 maintains valid location or routing information for UE 301; therefore, AMF 321 can reach UE 301. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 301 can execute mobility registration update procedures, execute periodic registration update procedures triggered by the expiration of periodic update timers (e.g., to notify the network that UE 301 is still active), and execute registration update procedures to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0094] The AMF 321 can store one or more RM contexts for the UE 301, where each RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context can be, for example, a data structure or database object, indicating or storing the registration status and periodic update timers for each access type. The AMF 321 can also store 5GC mobility management (MM) contexts that are the same as or similar to the (E)MM contexts discussed earlier. In some examples, the AMF 321 can store the coverage enhancement mode B limitation parameters of the UE 301 in the associated MM or RM context. The AMF 321 can also derive values ​​from UE usage setting parameters already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when needed.

[0095] Connection Management (CM) can be used to establish and release signaling connections between UE 301 and AMF 321 via the N1 interface. Signaling connections are used to enable NAS signaling exchange between UE 301 and CN 320, and include signaling connections between the UE and AN (e.g., RRC connections for non-3GPP access or UE-N3IWF connections) and N2 connections between the AN (e.g., RAN 310) and AMF 321 for UE 301. In some examples, UE 301 can operate in one of two CM modes: CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When UE 301 operates in CM-IDLE mode, UE 301 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with AMF 321 via the N1 interface, and (R)AN 310 signaling connections (e.g., N2 or N3 connections, or both) may exist for UE 301. When UE 301 operates in CM-CONNECTED mode, UE 301 may have a NAS signaling connection established with AMF 321 via the N1 interface, and may have (R)AN 310 signaling connections (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections) for UE 301. Establishing an N2 connection between (R)AN 310 and AMF 321 can cause UE 301 to transition from CM-IDLE mode to CM-CONNECTED mode, and UE 301 can transition from CM-CONNECTED mode to CM-IDLE mode when the N2 signaling between (R)AN 310 and AMF 321 is released.

[0096] SMF 324 is responsible for session management (SM), such as session establishment, modification, and publication, including tunnel maintenance between the UPF and AN nodes; UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP functions; configuration of traffic redirection at the UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; termination of the interface toward policy control functions; policy enforcement and QoS control portions; lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces with the LI system); termination of the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiation of AN-specific SM information sent to the AN via N2 using the AMF; and determination of the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of PDU sessions, and a PDU session (or "session") may refer to the PDU connectivity service that provides or enables PDU exchange between UE 301 and data network (DN) 303 identified by the data network name (DNN). A PDU session can be established, modified, and released upon request by UE 301, modified, and released upon request by both UE 301 and 5GC 320, using NAS SM signaling exchanged between UE 301 and SMF 324 via the N1 reference point. Upon request from the application server, 5GC 320 can trigger a specific application in UE 301. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE 301 can pass the trigger message (or relevant portions / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in UE 301. The identified applications in UE 301 can establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF 324 can check whether the UE 301 request matches the user subscription information associated with UE 301. In this regard, SMF 324 can retrieve and / or request to receive update notifications regarding SMF 324 level subscription data from UDM 327.

[0097] The SMF 324 may include some or all of the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply QoS service level agreements (SLAs) (e.g., in a VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (e.g., in a VPLMN); lawful interception (e.g., SM events and interfaces with the LI system in a VPLMN); and support for interaction with external DNs to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication via external DNs. An N16 reference point between two SMF 324s may be included in system 300, which in roaming scenarios may be between another SMF 324 in the visited network and an SMF 324 in the home network. Additionally, the SMF 324 may present an interface based on NSMF services.

[0098] NEF 323 provides components for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions to third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 328), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In some examples, NEF 323 can authenticate, authorize, and / or restrict AFs. NEF 323 can also translate information exchanged with AF 328 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 323 can translate between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 323 can also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on their exposure capabilities. This information can be stored as structured data at NEF 323 or stored at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information can then be re-exposed by NEF 323 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analysis, or both. Additionally, NEF 323 can present interfaces based on Nnef services.

[0099] The NRF 325 supports service discovery, receiving NF discovery requests from NF instances and providing information about discovered NF instances to them. The NRF 325 also maintains information about available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, terms such as "instantiation" can refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" can refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 325 can present an interface based on NRF services.

[0100] PCF 326 provides control plane functions to enforce their policy rules and also supports a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. PCF 326 can also implement a front-end to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the Unified Data Repository (UDR) of UDM 327. PCF 326 can communicate with AMF 321 using the N15 reference point between PCF 326 and AMF 321, which can include PCF 326 in the visited network and AMF 321 in roaming scenarios. PCF 326 can communicate with AF 328 using the N5 reference point between PCF 326 and AF 328; and with SMF 324 using the N7 reference point between PCF 326 and SMF 324. System 300 or CN 320, or both, may also include the N24 reference point between PCF 326 (in the home network) and PCF 326 in the visited network. In addition, PCF 326 can present an interface based on NPCF services.

[0101] UDM 327 can process subscription-related information to support network entities in handling communication sessions and can store subscription data for UE 301. For example, subscription data can be transferred between UDM 327 and AMF 321 using the N8 reference point between UDM 327 and AMF. UDM 327 may include two parts: an application front-end and a UDR (Unified Receiver / Device). Figure 3 (Front-end and UDR not shown). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data of UDM 327 and PCF 326, or structured data for exposure of NEF 323, as well as application data (including PFD for application detection, application request information of multiple UEs 301), or both. An interface based on the Nudr service may be presented by the UDR 221 to allow UDM 327, PCF 326, and NEF 323 to access specific sets of stored data, and to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM front-end responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. Several different front-ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM front-end accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management, and subscription management. The UDR may interact with SMF 324 using the N10 reference point between UDM 327 and SMF 324. The UDM 327 also supports SMS management, with the SMS front-end implementing similar application logic as previously discussed. Additionally, the UDM 327 can present an interface based on Nudm services.

[0102] AF 328 can provide application-driven influence on traffic routing, provide access to Network Capability Exposure (NCE), and interact with policy frameworks for policy control. NCE can be a mechanism allowing 5GC320 and AF 328 to provide information to each other using NEF 323, which can be used in edge computing implementations. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the UE 301 access point to achieve efficient service delivery through reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transport network. For edge computing implementations, 5GC can select UPF 302 near UE 301 and perform traffic redirection from UPF 302 to DN 303 using the N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by AF 328. Thus, AF 328 can influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 328 is considered a trusted entity, network operators can allow AF 328 to interact directly with the relevant NF. Additionally, AF 328 can present an interface based on Naf services.

[0103] NSSF 329 can select a set of network slice instances to serve UE 301. If needed, NSSF 329 can also determine the allowed NSSAIs and the mapping to subscribed individual network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAIs). NSSF 329 can also determine the AMF set, or list of candidate AMFs 321, for serving UE 301 based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying NRF 325. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE 301 can be triggered by AMF 321, where UE 301 registers through interaction with NSSF 329, which can cause changes to AMF 321. NSSF 329 can interact with AMF 321 using the N22 reference point between AMF 321 and NSSF 329; and can utilize the N31 reference point (…). Figure 3 (Not shown) Communicates with another NSSF 329 in the visited network. Additionally, the NSSF 329 may present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0104] As previously discussed, CN 320 may include an SMSF responsible for SMS subscription checks and authentication, and for relaying SM messages to or from UE 301 to or from other entities such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers. SMS may also interact with AMF 321 and UDM 327 for notification procedures indicating that UE 301 is available for SMS delivery (e.g., setting a UE unreachable flag and notifying UDM 327 when UE 301 is available for SMS).

[0105] CN 120 may also include Figure 3 Other components not shown include data storage systems, 5G-EIR, Secure Edge Protection Agent (SEPP), etc. Data storage systems may include Structured Data Storage Functions (SDSF), Unstructured Data Storage Functions (UDSF), or both. Any network function can utilize any NF and UDSF. Figure 3 The N18 reference points (not shown) between the network functions will store unstructured data in or retrieve it from the UDSF (e.g., UE context). Individual network functions may share a UDSF to store their respective unstructured data, or each network function may have its own UDSF located at or near the respective network function. Additionally, the UDSF may present an interface based on Nudsf services (…). Figure 3 (Not shown). 5G-EIR can be a network function that checks the status of a Permanent Device Identifier (PEI) to determine whether a specific device or entity should be blacklisted from the network; and SEPP can be a non-transparent agent that performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the control plane interface between PLMNs.

[0106] In some examples, there may be additional or alternative reference points or service-based interfaces, or both, between network function services within a network function. However, for clarity, Figure 3 These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one example, CN 320 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME 221) and AMF 321 to enable interoperability between CN 320 and CN 220. Other exemplary interfaces or reference points may include interfaces based on N5g-EIR services presented by 5G-EIR, the N27 reference point between an NRF in the visited network and an NRF in the home network, or the N31 reference point between an NSSF in the visited network and an NSSF in the home network, etc.

[0107] Figure 4 An example of infrastructure device 400 is illustrated. Infrastructure device 400 (or “system 400”) may be implemented as a base station, a radio head unit, a RAN node (such as RAN node 111 or AP 106 previously shown and described), an application server 130, or any other component or device described herein. In other examples, system 400 may be implemented in or by a UE.

[0108] System 400 includes: application circuitry 405, baseband circuitry 410, one or more radio front-end modules (RFEMs) 415, memory circuitry 420, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 425, power tee circuitry 430, network controller circuitry 435, network interface connector 440, satellite positioning circuitry 445, and user interface circuitry 450. In some examples, system 400 may include additional components such as, for example, memory, storage devices, displays, cameras, one or more sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces or combinations thereof. In other examples, the components described with reference to system 400 may be included in more than one device. For example, various circuits may be separately included in more than one device for CRAN, vBBU, or other specific implementations.

[0109] Application circuitry 405 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, one or more of the following: a low-dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I2C, or a universal programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, general-purpose input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a Secure Digital (SD) Multimedia Card (MMC) or similar, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, a Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interface, and a Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of application circuitry 405 may be coupled to or may include memory or storage elements, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory or storage elements to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 400. In some examples, the memory or storage element may include on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, or combinations thereof.

[0110] The processor of application circuit 405 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 combinations thereof. In some examples, application circuit 405 may include or may be a dedicated processor or controller configured to perform the various technologies described herein. As an example, the processor of application circuit 405 may include one or more Intel processors. or Processor; Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or Processors; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium™, Inc. MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some examples, system 400 may not utilize application circuitry 405 and may instead include a dedicated processor or controller to process IP data, for example, received from an EPC or 5GC.

[0111] In some examples, application circuitry 405 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, etc. These hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) or deep learning (DL) accelerators, or both. In some examples, the programmable processing device may be one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs), such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs) or high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); or combinations thereof, etc. In such specific implementations, the circuitry of application circuitry 405 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, and other interconnect resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, and functions described herein. In some examples, the circuitry of application circuit 405 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM) or fuse)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, or other data in lookup tables (LUTs).

[0112] The baseband circuit 410 can be implemented, for example, as a soldered substrate, including one or more integrated circuits, a single-package integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. (See reference...) Figure X T discusses the various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuit 410.

[0113] User interface circuitry 450 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with system 400 or peripheral component interfaces, which are designed to enable peripheral components to interact with system 400. User interfaces may include, but are not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, or combinations thereof. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, non-volatile memory ports, universal serial bus (USB) ports, audio jacks, power interfaces, etc.

[0114] The radio front-end module (RFEM) 415 may include a millimeter-wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some examples, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physically decoupled from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connectors to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example...). Figure X The antenna array 611 of T), and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In some examples, the radio functions of both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave are implemented in the same physical RFEM 415 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

[0115] Memory circuitry 420 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), such as electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), or magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), or combinations thereof. In some examples, memory circuitry 420 may include memory derived from… and A three-dimensional (3D) xpoint memory. For example, the memory circuit 420 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in packaged integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and an insert memory card.

[0116] The PMIC 425 may include a voltage regulator, surge protector, power alarm detection circuitry, and one or more backup power sources, such as batteries or capacitors. The power alarm detection circuitry can detect one or more of a power outage (undervoltage) and a power surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 430 can provide power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity to the infrastructure equipment 400 using a single cable.

[0117] Network controller circuitry 435 may use standard network interface protocols such as Ethernet, GRE-tunneled Ethernet, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based Ethernet, or some other suitable protocol to provide connectivity to the network. Network connectivity to and from infrastructure device 400 may be provided using a physical connection via network interface connector 440, which may be an electrical connection (typically referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. Network controller circuitry 435 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs, or both, for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some examples, network controller circuitry 435 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0118] Positioning circuit 445 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted or broadcast by a positioning network of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Examples of GNSS include the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation NAVIC, Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler orbit charts, and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS)). Positioning circuit 445 may include various hardware components (e.g., hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc., for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some examples, positioning circuit 445 may include a micro-technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing, which performs position tracking and estimation using a master timing clock in the absence of GNSS assistance. Positioning circuit 445 may also be a part of or interact with baseband circuitry 410 or RFEM 415, or both, to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 445 can also provide data (e.g., location data, time data) to the application circuit 405, which can use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures (e.g., RAN node 111, etc.).

[0119] Figure 4 The components shown can communicate with each other using interface circuitry, which may include any number of bus or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extension (PCIx), PCI Express (PCIe), or any other technologies. The bus or IX may be a proprietary bus, for example, used in a SoC-based system. Other bus or IX systems may be included, such as I2C interfaces, SPI interfaces, point-to-point interfaces, and power buses, etc.

[0120] Figure 5 Examples of platform 500 (or “device 500”) are illustrated. In some examples, computer platform 500 may be adapted to function as UE 101, 201, 301, application server 130, or any other component or device discussed herein. Platform 500 may include any combination of the components shown in the examples. Components (or portions thereof) of platform 500 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof adapted within computer platform 500, or may be implemented as components otherwise integrated into the rack of a larger system. Figure 5The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of platform 500. However, in some examples, platform 500 may include fewer, additional, or alternative components, or include... Figure 5 The different arrangements of the components are shown.

[0121] Application circuitry 505 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces (such as SPI), I2C or general-purpose programmable serial interface modules, RTCs, timer-counters (including interval timers and watchdog timers), general-purpose I / O, memory card controllers (such as SD MMC or similar controllers), USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces, and JTAG test access ports. The processor (or core) of application circuitry 505 may be coupled to or may include memory / storage elements, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory or storage devices to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 500. In some examples, the memory or storage element may be on-chip memory circuitry, which may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, or combinations thereof.

[0122] The processor of application circuit 405 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 examples, application circuit 405 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for performing the techniques described herein.

[0123] As an example, the processor of application circuit 505 may include a processor based on... Architecture TM processors, such as Quark TM Atom TM i3, i5, i7 or MCU-level processors, or available from Santa Clara, California. Another processor of this type from the company. The processor for the Application Circuit 505 can also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s A5-A9 processors, from Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM Processor, Texas Instruments Open Multimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM Processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some examples, application circuitry 505 may be part of a system-on-a-chip (SoC), where application circuitry 505 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.

[0124] Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 505 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs) and high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); or combinations thereof, etc. In some examples, application circuitry 505 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, and other interconnect resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, and functions described herein. In some examples, application circuitry 505 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM) or fuses) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, or other data in lookup tables (LUTs).

[0125] The baseband circuit 510 can be implemented, for example, as a soldered substrate, comprising one or more integrated circuits, a single-package integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. (See reference...) Figure X T discusses the various hardware electronic components of the 510 baseband circuit.

[0126] RFEM 515 may include a millimeter-wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some examples, the one or more sub-millimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separate from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connectors to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example...). Figure X The antenna array 611 of T is used, and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In some examples, the radio functions of both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave are implemented in the same physical RFEM 515 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

[0127] Memory circuitry 520 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a fixed amount of system memory. As an example, memory circuitry 520 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), such as high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), or magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), or combinations thereof. Memory circuitry 520 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) design based on low-power double data rate (LPDDR), such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. Memory circuitry 520 may be implemented as one or more of the following: solder-in packaged integrated circuits, single-die package (SDP), dual-die package (DDP), or quad-die package (Q17P), socket memory modules, dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) including micro-DIMMs or mini-DIMMs, or soldered to a motherboard using a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, memory circuitry 520 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with application circuitry 505. To provide persistent storage for information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., memory circuitry 520 may include one or more mass storage devices, such as solid-state drives (SSDDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), micro HDDs, resistance-changing memory, phase-change memory, holographic memory, or chemical memory. In some examples, computer platform 500 may be integrated with... and 3D XPOINT memory.

[0128] The removable memory circuitry 523 may include devices, circuitry, housings, enclosures, ports, or sockets for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 500. 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, MicroSD cards, xD picture cards), as well as USB flash drives, optical discs, or external HDDs or combinations thereof.

[0129] Platform 500 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to platform 500. External devices connected to platform 500 via this interface circuitry include sensor circuitry 521 and electromechanical components (EMC) 522, as well as a removable memory device coupled to removable memory circuitry 523.

[0130] Sensor circuit 521 includes a device, module, or subsystem designed to detect events or changes in its environment and transmit information about the detected events (e.g., sensor data) to one or more other devices, modules, or subsystems. Examples of such sensors include: inertial measurement units (IMUs), such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) including triaxial accelerometers, triaxial gyroscopes, or magnetometers; level sensors; flow sensors; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors; barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless aperture sensors); light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiation detectors, etc.), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other audio capture devices, or combinations thereof, etc.

[0131] EMC 522 includes devices, modules, or subsystems intended to enable platform 500 to change its state, position, or orientation, or to move or control mechanisms, systems, or subsystems. Additionally, EMC 522 can be configured to generate messages or signaling and send messages or signaling to other components of platform 500 to indicate the current state of EMC 522. Examples of EMC 522, among other electromechanical components, include one or more power switches, relays (such as electromechanical relays (EMRs) or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators), audible generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors or stepper motors), wheels, propellers, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, or combinations thereof. In some examples, platform 500 is configured to operate one or more EMC 522s based on one or more captured events, commands, or control signals received from a service provider or client, or both.

[0132] In some examples, the interface circuitry can connect platform 500 to positioning circuitry 545. Positioning circuitry 545 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted or broadcast by a GNSS positioning network. Examples of GNSS systems include GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo (EU), BeiDou (China), regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC), QZSS (Japan), DORIS (France), etc. Positioning circuitry 545 includes various hardware components (e.g., hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc.) to facilitate OTA communication for communication with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some examples, positioning circuitry 545 may include a miniature PNT IC that performs position tracking or estimation using a master timing clock without GNSS assistance. Positioning circuitry 545 may also be or interact with baseband circuitry 410 or RFEM 515, or a combination thereof, to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 545 can also provide data (e.g., location data, time data) to the application circuit 505, which can use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures (e.g., radio base stations) for applications such as turn-by-turn navigation.

[0133] In some examples, the interface circuitry can connect platform 500 to near-field communication (NFC) circuitry 540. NFC circuitry 540 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards, where magnetic field sensing is applied to enable communication between NFC circuitry 540 and NFC-enabled devices (e.g., “NFC contacts”) external to platform 500. NFC circuitry 540 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller can be a chip or IC that provides NFC functionality to NFC circuitry 540 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack can be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware can be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit short-range RF signals. The RF signals can power passive NFC tags (e.g., microchips embedded in stickers or wristbands) to transfer stored data to NFC circuitry 540, or initiate data transfer between NFC circuitry 540 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) located near platform 500.

[0134] The driving circuit 546 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 500. The driving circuit 546 may include various drivers that allow other components of the platform 500 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may exist within or be connected to the platform. For example, the driving circuit 546 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device; a touchscreen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touchscreen interface of the platform 500; a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings of sensor circuit 521 and controlling and allowing access to sensor circuit 521; an EMC driver for acquiring actuator position of EMC 522 or controlling and allowing access to EMC 522; a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device; and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0135] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 525 (also referred to as "power management circuit 525") manages the power supplied to various components of platform 500. Specifically, relative to baseband circuit 510, PMIC 525 controls power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. PMIC 525 may be included when platform 500 can be powered by battery 530, for example, when the device is included in UE 101, 201, 301.

[0136] In some examples, the PMIC 525 can be controlled or otherwise integrated into various power-saving mechanisms of the platform 500. For instance, if the platform 500 is in the RRC_Connected state, where it remains connected to the RAN node as it anticipates receiving traffic soon, it can enter a state known as Discontinuous Receive Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the platform 500 can power down for short intervals to conserve power. If there is no data traffic activity for a longer period, the platform 500 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, where it is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handover. This allows the platform 500 to enter a very low-power state in which it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. In some examples, the platform 500 may not receive data in the RRC_Idle state and must instead transition back to the RRC_Connected state to receive data. Additional power-saving modes can render the device unable to use the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from seconds to hours). During this time, the device may be unable to connect to the network and may lose power completely. Any data sent during this period may experience significant delays, and it is assumed that the delays are acceptable.

[0137] Battery 530 can power platform 500, but in some examples, platform 500 may be deployed in a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to the grid. Battery 530 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, or a lithium-air battery. In some examples, such as in V2X applications, battery 530 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0138] In some examples, battery 530 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in platform 500 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of battery 530. The BMS can be used to monitor other parameters of battery 530, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of battery 530, to provide fault prediction. The BMS can transmit information about battery 530 to application circuitry 505 or other components of platform 500. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that allows application circuitry 505 to directly monitor the voltage of battery 530 or the current from battery 530. Battery parameters can be used to determine actions that platform 500 can perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0139] A power block coupled to the grid or other power source can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 530. In some examples, a wireless power receiver can replace the power block 530 to wirelessly obtain power, for example, via a loop antenna in the computer platform 500. In these examples, wireless battery charging circuitry can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuitry chosen may depend on the size of the battery 530 and therefore on the required current. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standards published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Radio Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Radio Power Alliance.

[0140] User interface circuitry 550 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present within or connected to platform 500, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with platform 500 or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with peripheral components of platform 500. User interface circuitry 550 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. Input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual device for accepting input, including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, or a headset, or combinations thereof. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual device for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other information). Output device circuitry may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, including one or more simple visual outputs or indicators (e.g., binary status indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)), multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, or projectors), wherein the output of characters, graphics, or multimedia objects is generated or produced by the operation of platform 500. Output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio transmitting devices, or printers. In some examples, sensor circuitry 521 may be used as input device circuitry (e.g., image capture devices or motion capture devices), and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuitry (e.g., actuators for providing haptic feedback). In another example, NFC circuitry may be included for reading electronic tags or connecting to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and processing device coupled to an antenna element. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, non-volatile memory ports, USB ports, audio jacks, or power interfaces.

[0141] Although not shown, components of platform 500 may communicate with each other using suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technologies, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, Time Triggered Protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any other technologies. The bus or IX may be a proprietary bus or IX, for example, used in a SoC-based system. Other bus or IX systems may be included, such as I2C interfaces, SPI interfaces, point-to-point interfaces, and power buses, etc.

[0142] Figure X T illustrates exemplary components of the baseband circuitry 610 and the radio front-end module (RFEM) 615. The baseband circuitry 610 may correspond to... Figure 4 The baseband circuit 410 and Figure 5The baseband circuit 510. RFEM 615 can respectively correspond to Figure 4 RFEM 415 and Figure 5 The RFEM 515. As shown in the figure, the RFEM 615 may include a radio frequency (RF) circuit 606, a front-end module (FEM) circuit 608, and an antenna array 611 coupled together.

[0143] Baseband circuitry 610 includes circuitry or control logic components, or both, configured to perform various radio or network protocols and control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks using RF circuitry 606. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation and demodulation, encoding and decoding, and radio frequency shifting. In some examples, the modulation and demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 610 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping and demapping functions. In some examples, the encoding and decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 610 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder and decoder functions. Modulation and demodulation, as well as encoder and decoder functions, are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other examples. Baseband circuitry 610 is configured to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 606 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 606. Baseband circuitry 610 is configured to interact with application circuitry (e.g., Figure 4 and Figure 5 The application circuits 405 and 505 shown interact to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuit 606. Baseband circuit 610 can handle various radio control functions.

[0144] The aforementioned circuitry and control logic components of the baseband circuitry 610 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 604A, a 4G or LTE baseband processor 604B, a 5G or NR baseband processor 604C, or other baseband processors 604D for other existing, under development, or future generations (e.g., sixth generation (6G)). In some examples, some or all of the functionality of the baseband processors 604A-D may be included in modules stored in memory 604G and executed using a central processing unit (CPU) 604E. In some examples, some or all of the functionality of the baseband processors 604A-D may be provided as hardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs or ASICs) loaded with appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in the respective memory cells. In some examples, memory 604G may store program code for a real-time operating system (RTOS), which, when executed by CPU 604E (or other baseband processor), enables CPU 604E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources of baseband circuitry 610, schedule tasks, or perform other operations. Examples of RTOS may include those derived from... The provided Operating System Embedded (OSE) TM By Mentor Nucleus RTOS provided TM By Mentor Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) is provided by Express. ThreadX provided TM ,Depend on The provided FreeRTOS and REX OS are from OpenKernel (OK). The provided OKL4, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. Furthermore, the baseband circuitry 610 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 604F. The audio DSP 604F includes elements for compression and decompression and echo cancellation, and in some examples may include other suitable processing elements.

[0145] In some examples, each processor in processors 604A-604E includes a corresponding memory interface for sending data to and receiving data from memory 604G. Baseband circuitry 610 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuitry or devices, such as interfaces for sending data to and receiving data from memory external to baseband circuitry 610; and interfaces for sending data to... Figure 4 and Figure XThe application circuit interface for sending and receiving data from application circuits 405 and 505 of T; used to send data to and receive data from application circuits of T; Figure X The RF circuit interface of T's RF circuit 606 transmits data and receives data from the RF circuit; for use with one or more wireless hardware components (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components, Low power components The PMIC 525 has a wireless hardware connection interface for transmitting data to and receiving data from the PMIC and other wireless hardware components; and a power management interface for transmitting power or control signals to and receiving power or control signals from the PMIC.

[0146] In some examples (which may be combined with the examples described above), baseband circuitry 610 includes one or more digital baseband systems that are coupled to each other and to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem using interconnect subsystems. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to a digital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem using another interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may include a bus system, point-to-point connections, a network-on-chip (NOC) architecture, or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSP circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, voice processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital converter circuitry and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one or more amplifiers and filters, etc. In some examples, baseband circuitry 610 may include protocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuitry or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., radio front-end module 615).

[0147] although Figure XT is not shown, but in some examples, baseband circuitry 610 includes various processing devices (e.g., a "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuit") for operating one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices for implementing PHY layer functions. In some examples, PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In some examples, the protocol processing circuit operates or implements various protocol layers or entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. For example, when baseband circuitry 610 or RF circuitry 606, or both, are part of millimeter-wave communication circuitry or some other suitable cellular communication circuitry, the protocol processing circuit may operate an LTE protocol entity or a 5G NR protocol entity, or both. In this example, the protocol processing circuit may operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In some examples, when baseband circuitry 610 or RF circuitry 606, or both, are part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuit may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In this example, the protocol processing circuit may operate Wi-Fi MAC and Logical Link Control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 604G) for storing program code and data for operating protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing the program code and performing various operations using the data. The baseband circuitry 610 may also support radio communication using more than one wireless protocol.

[0148] The various hardware components of the baseband circuit 610 discussed herein can be implemented, for example, as a soldered substrate comprising one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single-packaged IC soldered to a main board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In some examples, components of the baseband circuit 610 may be suitably combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same board. In some examples, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 and the RF circuit 606 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or a system-in-package (SiP). In some examples, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to the RF circuit 606 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 606). In some examples, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 and the application circuits 405, 505 may be implemented together as a separate SoC mounted to the same board (e.g., a “multi-chip package”).

[0149] In some examples, baseband circuit 610 can provide communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, baseband circuit 610 can support communication with E-UTRAN or other WMAN, WLAN, or WPAN. Examples in which baseband circuit 610 is configured to support radio communication with more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as a multi-mode baseband circuit.

[0150] RF circuit 606 can communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In some examples, RF circuit 606 may include components such as switches, filters, or amplifiers to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuit 606 may include a receive signal path that includes circuitry for down-converting the RF signal received from FEM circuit 608 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 610. RF circuit 606 may also include a transmit signal path that includes circuitry for up-converting the baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 610 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 608.

[0151] The receive signal path of RF circuit 606 includes mixer circuit 606a, amplifier circuit 606b, and filter circuit 606c. In some examples, the transmit signal path of RF circuit 606 may include filter circuit 606c and mixer circuit 606a. RF circuit 606 also includes synthesizer circuit 606d for synthesizing frequencies used by mixer circuit 606a in both the receive and transmit signal paths. In some examples, mixer circuit 606a in the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from FEM circuit 608 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 606d. Amplifier circuit 606b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and filter circuit 606c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuit 610 for further processing. In some examples, although this is not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal. In some examples, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer.

[0152] In some examples, the mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path can be configured to up-convert the input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 606d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 608. The baseband signal can be provided by the baseband circuit 610 and can be filtered by the filter circuit 606c.

[0153] In some examples, the mixer circuit 606a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some examples, the mixer circuit 606a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a for the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image suppression (e.g., Hartley image suppression). In some examples, the mixer circuit 606a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a for the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some examples, the mixer circuit 606a for the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a for the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0154] In some examples, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal can be analog baseband signals. In some examples, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal can be electronic baseband signals, and the RF circuit 606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and the baseband circuit 610 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit 606.

[0155] In some dual-mode examples, separate radio IC circuits can be provided to process the signal for each spectrum, but the techniques described herein are not limited in this respect.

[0156] In some examples, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a fractional N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, but other types of frequency synthesizers may be used. For example, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a Δ-∑ synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer that includes a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0157] Synthesizer circuit 606d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by mixer circuit 606a of RF circuit 606. In some examples, synthesizer circuit 606d can be a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0158] In some examples, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not mandatory. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 610 or the application circuits 405 / 505 according to the desired output frequency. In some examples, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application circuits 405, 505.

[0159] The synthesizer circuit 606d of the RF circuit 606 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some examples, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some examples, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some examples, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. The delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period 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 period.

[0160] In some examples, synthesizer circuit 606d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other examples, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and may be used with quadrature generator and frequency divider circuitry to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at that carrier frequency. In some examples, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some examples, RF circuit 606 may include an IQ or polarity converter.

[0161] FEM circuit 608 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antenna array 611, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuit 606 for further processing. FEM circuit 608 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuit 606 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 611. Amplification via the transmit or receive signal path may be performed solely in RF circuit 606, solely in FEM circuit 608, or in both RF circuit 606 and FEM circuit 608.

[0162] In some examples, FEM circuit 608 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit and receive mode operation. FEM circuit 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of FEM circuit 608 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to RF circuit 606). The transmit signal path of FEM circuit 608 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuit 606), and one or more filters for generating the RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of antenna array 611.

[0163] Antenna array 611 includes one or more antenna elements, each configured to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and to convert received radio waves back into electrical signals. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 610 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which is amplified and transmitted using the antenna elements of antenna array 611, which includes one or more antenna elements (not shown). Antenna elements can be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. Antenna elements can be arranged in various configurations as known and / or discussed herein. Antenna array 611 may include microstrip antennas or printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. Antenna array 611 may be formed as a patch of metal foil of various shapes (e.g., a patch antenna) and may be coupled to RF circuit 606 and / or FEM circuit 608 using metal transmission lines, etc.

[0164] The processors of application circuits 405 / 505 and baseband circuits 610 are elements that can be used to execute one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuit 610 can be used alone or in combination to execute layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processors of application circuits 405 and 505 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include the RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include the MAC layer, RLC layer, and PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include the PHY layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0165] Figure 7 Exemplary components of a communication circuit 700 are shown. In some examples, the communication circuit 700 may be implemented as follows: Figure 4 and Figure 5 This is part of the system 400 or platform 500 shown. Communication circuitry 700 may be communicatively (e.g., directly or indirectly) coupled to one or more antennas, such as antennas 702a-c. In some examples, communication circuitry 700 includes or is communicatively coupled to dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR), processors, or radio components, or combinations thereof. For example, as... Figure 7 As shown, the communication circuit 700 includes a modem 710 and a modem 720, which may correspond to or be used with... Figure 4 and Figure 5It is part of the baseband circuits 410 and 510. Modem 710 can be configured to communicate according to a first RAT (such as LTE or LTE-A), and modem 720 can be configured to communicate according to a second RAT (such as 5G NR).

[0166] Modem 710 includes one or more processors 712 and memory 716 in communication with the processors 712. Modem 710 communicates with radio frequency (RF) front end 730, which may correspond to or be... Figure 4 and Figure 5 This is part of RFEM 415 and RFEM 515. RF front-end 730 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front-end 730 includes receiver circuitry (RX) 732 and transmitter circuitry (TX) 734. In some examples, receiver circuitry 732 communicates with DL front-end 750, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals from antenna 702a. Switch 770 may selectively couple modem 710 to UL front-end 772, which may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals using antenna 702c.

[0167] Similarly, modem 720 includes one or more processors 722 and memory 726 in communication with processor 722. Modem 720 communicates with RF front-end 740, which may correspond to or be... Figure 4 and Figure 5 This is part of RFEM 415 and RFEM 515. RF front-end 740 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front-end 740 includes receiving circuitry 742 and transmitting circuitry 744. In some examples, receiving circuitry 742 communicates with DL front-end 760, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals from antenna 702b. Switch 770 may selectively couple modem 720 to UL front-end 772 for transmitting radio signals using antenna 702c.

[0168] Modem 710 may include hardware and software components for time-division multiplexing UL data (e.g., for NSA NR operation) and various other technologies described herein. Processor 712 may include one or more processing elements configured to implement the various features described herein, such as by executing program instructions stored on memory 716 (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). In some examples, processor 712 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA or ASIC. In some examples, processor 712 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of processor 712. For example, each IC may include circuitry configured to perform the functions of processor 712.

[0169] Modem 720 may include hardware and software components for time-division multiplexing UL data (e.g., for NSA NR operation) and various other technologies described herein. Processor 722 may include one or more processing elements configured to implement the various features described herein, such as by executing instructions stored on memory 726 (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). In some examples, processor 722 may be configured as a programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA or ASIC. In some examples, processor 722 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of processor 722. For example, each IC may include circuitry configured to perform the functions of processor 722.

[0170] Figure 8 This illustrates various protocol functions that can be implemented in wireless communication devices. Specifically, Figure 8 This includes an arrangement 800 illustrating the interconnections between various protocol layers / entities. It provides various protocol layers and entities operating in conjunction with 5G NR system standards and LTE system standards. Figure 8 The following description, but Figure 8 Some or all of these aspects may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0171] In addition to other higher-layer functions not shown, the protocol layers of arrangement 800 may also include one or more of PHY 810, MAC 820, RLC 830, PDCP 840, SDAP 847, RRC 855, and NAS layer 857. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., providing communication between two or more protocol layers) that can provide communication between two or more protocol layers. Figure 8 Items 859, 856, 850, 849, 845, 835, 825, and 815.

[0172] The PHY 810 can transmit and receive physical layer signals 805, which can be received from or transmitted to one or more other communication devices. Physical layer signals 805 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. The PHY 810 can also perform link adaptive or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC 855). The PHY 810 can further perform error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding and decoding of transport channels, modulation and demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. In some examples, instances of the PHY 810 may use one or more PHY-SAP 815s to process requests from instances of the MAC 820 and provide them with indications. In some examples, requests and indications transmitted using the PHY-SAP 815 may include one or more transport channels.

[0173] An instance of MAC 820 can utilize one or more MAC-SAP 825s to process requests from instances of RLC 830 and provide them with instructions. These requests and instructions transmitted using MAC-SAP 825s may include one or more logical channels. MAC 820 can perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto a transport block (TB) delivered to PHY 810 via a transport channel to be utilized, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from a TB delivered from PHY 810 via a transport channel onto one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0174] An instance of the RLC 830 can utilize one or more Radio Link Control Service Access Points (RLC-SAP) 835s to process requests from instances of the PDCP 840 and provide them with instructions. These requests and instructions transmitted using the RLC-SAP 835 can include one or more logical channels. The RLC 830 can operate in several modes, including: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). The RLC 830 can perform the transmission of Upper Layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs), error correction via Automatic Repeat Requests (ARQs) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLCSDUs for UM and AM data transmission. The RLC 830 can also perform resegmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reordering of RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detection of duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discarding of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detection of protocol errors for AM data transmission, and RLC re-establishment.

[0175] An instance of PDCP 840 can utilize one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Access Points (PDCP-SAP) 845s to process requests from instances of RRC 855 or SDAP 847, or both, and provide them with instructions. These requests and instructions transmitted using PDCP-SAP 845 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 840 can perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform sequential delivery of higher-layer PDUs during lower-layer re-establishment, eliminate duplication of lower-layer SDUs during lower-layer re-establishment 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 discarding, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, or integrity verification).

[0176] Instances of SDAP 847 can utilize one or more SDAP-SAP 849s to process requests from one or more higher-layer protocol entities and provide them with indications. These requests and indications transmitted using SDAP-SAP 849 can include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 847 can map QoS flows to Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and vice versa, and can also tag QoS Flow Identifiers (QFIs) in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 847 can be configured for a single PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 110 can control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflective mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, UE 101's SDAP 847 can monitor the QFI of DL packets for each DRB and can apply the same mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For DRBs, UE 101's SDAP 847 can map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow that corresponds to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of that DRB. To implement reflection mapping, the NG-RAN310 can tag DL packets with QoS flow IDs via the Uu interface. Explicit mapping may involve configuring the SDAP 847 with explicit mapping rules from the RRC 855 to the DRB, which can be stored and followed by the SDAP 847. In some examples, the SDAP 847 may be used only in NR implementations and not in LTE implementations.

[0177] RRC 855 can configure aspects of one or more protocol layers using one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs), which may include one or more instances of PHY 810, MAC 820, RLC 830, PDCP 840, and SDAP 847. In some examples, instances of RRC 855 may use one or more RRC-SAP 856s to process requests from one or more NAS entities 857 and provide them with instructions. Key services and functions of RRC 855 may include broadcasting system information (e.g., included in NAS-related Master Information Block (MIB) or System Information Block (SIB)), broadcasting system information related to the Access Layer (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of RRC connections between UE 101 and RAN 110 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. MIBs and SIBs may include one or more information elements, each of which may include a separate data field or data structure.

[0178] The NAS 857 forms the highest layer of the control plane between UE 101 and AMF 321. The NAS 857 supports the mobility and session management procedures of UE 101 to establish and maintain IP connections between UE 101 and the P-GW in an LTE system.

[0179] In some examples, one or more protocol entities of deployment 800 may be implemented in UE 101, RAN node 111, AMF 321 in the NR implementation or MME 221 in the LTE implementation, UPF 302 in the NR implementation or S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 in the LTE implementation, etc., for use in the control plane or user plane communication protocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In some examples, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of UE 101, gNB 111, AMF 321, etc., may communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented in another device or on another device (using the services of the corresponding lower-level protocol entity to perform such communication). In some examples, the gNB-CU of gNB 111 can host the RRC 855, SDAP 847, and PDCP 840 of gNB 111 that control one or more gNB-DU operations, and the gNB-DU of gNB 111 can each host the RLC 830, MAC 820, and PHY 810 of gNB 111.

[0180] In some examples, the control plane protocol stack may include NAS 857, RRC855, PDCP 840, RLC 830, MAC 820, and PHY 810 in order from the highest to the lowest layer. In this example, the upper layer 860 may be built on top of NAS 857, which includes IP layer 861, SCTP 862, and application layer signaling protocol (AP) 863.

[0181] In some examples, such as NR implementations, AP 863 may be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 863 for an NG interface 113 defined between NG-RAN node 111 and AMF321, or AP 863 may be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 863 for an Xn interface 112 defined between two or more RAN nodes 111.

[0182] NG-AP 863 can support the functionality of NG interface 113 and may include an initial procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP can be the interaction unit between NG-RAN node 111 and AMF 321. NG-AP 863 services may include two groups: UE-related services (e.g., services related to UE 101) and non-UE-related services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between NG-RAN node 111 and AMF 321). These services may include, but are not limited to: paging functions for sending paging requests to NG-RAN node 111 involved in a specific paging area; UE context management functions for allowing AMF 321 to establish, modify, or release UE contexts in AMF 321 and NG-RAN node 111; mobility functions for UE 101 in ECM-CONNECTED mode, for intra-system HO support of mobility within NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO support of mobility from / to EPS systems; NAS signaling transmission functions for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between UE 101 and AMF 321; NAS node selection functions for determining the association between AMF 321 and UE 101; NG interface management functions for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; warning message transmission functions for providing means of transmitting warning messages or canceling ongoing warning message broadcasts using the NG interface; and functions for utilizing CN... 120 is a configuration transfer function that requests and transfers RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information, or performance measurement (PM) data) between two RAN nodes 111; or a combination thereof, etc.

[0183] XnAP 863 supports the functions of Xn interface 112 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. XnAP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within NG RAN 111 (or E-UTRAN 210), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transmission procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, or procedures related to dual connectivity. XnAP global procedures may include procedures not associated with a specific UE 101, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, or cell activation procedures.

[0184] In a specific LTE implementation, AP 863 can be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 863 for an S1 interface 113 limited between E-UTRAN node 111 and MME, or AP 863 can be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 863 for an X2 interface 112 limited between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 111.

[0185] The S1 Application Protocol Layer (S1-AP) 863 supports the functions of the S1 interface and, similar to the previously discussed NG-AP, may include an S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP can be the interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 111 and the MME 221 within the LTE CN 120. S1-AP 863 services may include two sets: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. These services perform functions including, but not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transmission.

[0186] X2AP 863 supports the functions of X2 interface 112 and may include X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. X2AP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within E-UTRAN 120, such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transmission procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, or procedures related to dual connectivity. X2AP global procedures may include procedures not associated with a specific UE 101, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indication procedures, error indication procedures, or cell activation procedures.

[0187] The SCTP layer (optionally referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 862 provides guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). SCTP 862 can ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between RAN node 111 and AMF 321 / MME 221, based in part on the IP protocol supported by IP 861. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 861 can be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, IP layer 861 can use point-to-point transmission to deliver and transmit PDUs. In this regard, RAN node 111 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0188] In some examples, the user plane protocol stack may include SDAP 847, PDCP 840, RLC 830, MAC 820, and PHY 810 in order from the highest to the lowest layer. The user plane protocol stack can be used for communication between UE 101, RAN node 111, and UPF 302 in an NR implementation, or between S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 in an LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 851 may be built on top of SDAP 847 and may include User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IP Security Layer (UDP / IP) 852, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol Layer for User Plane (GTP-U) 853, and User Plane PDU Layer (UP PDU) 863.

[0189] The transport network layer 854 (also known as the "transport layer") can be built on top of IP transport, and the GTP-U 853 can be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 852 (which includes the UDP and IP layers) to carry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also known as the "Internet layer") can be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer can assign IP addresses to user data packets in any of the formats, such as IPv4, IPv6, or PPP.

[0190] The GTP-U 853 can 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 can be packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. The UDP / IP 852 provides checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication for selected data streams. RAN node 111 and S-GW 222 can utilize the S1-U interface to exchange user plane data using a protocol stack including L1 layer (e.g., PHY 810), L2 layer (e.g., MAC 820, RLC 830, PDCP 840, and / or SDAP 847), UDP / IP layer 852, and GTP-U 853. S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 can utilize the S5 / S8a interface to exchange user plane data using a protocol stack including L1 layer, L2 layer, UDP / IP layer 852, and GTP-U 853. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol supports the mobility and session management process of UE 101 to establish and maintain the IP connection between UE 101 and P-GW 223.

[0191] Furthermore, despite Figure 8Not shown, but the application layer may exist above AP 863 and / or transport network layer 854. The application layer may be a layer where users of UE 101, RAN node 111, or other network elements interact with software applications, such as those executed by application circuitry 405 or 505, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for software applications to interact with the communication systems of UE 101 or RAN node 111, such as baseband circuitry 610. In some examples, the IP layer or the application layer, or both, may provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5 through 7 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, or portions thereof (e.g., OSI layer 7—application layer, OSI layer 6—presentation layer, and OSI layer 5—session layer).

[0192] Figure 9 Components of core network 220 are shown. Components of CN 220 may be implemented in a physical node or individual physical nodes and may include components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some examples, components of CN 320 can be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to components of CN 220. In some examples, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the aforementioned network node functions using executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media, as will be described in further detail below. A logical instance of CN 220 may be referred to as network slice 901, and each logical instance of CN 220 may provide specific network functions and network characteristics. A logical instance of a portion of CN 220 may be referred to as network subslice 902 (e.g., network subslice 902 is shown as including P-GW 223 and PCRF 226).

[0193] As used herein, the term "instantiation" can refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" can refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance can refer to information identifying a domain that can be used for service detection and routing in cases of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance can refer to a set of network function (NF) instances and the resources (e.g., compute, storage, and network resources) required to deploy a network slice.

[0194] Regarding 5G systems (see example) Figure 3Network slices can include RAN and CN portions. Support for network slices relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. Different network slices can be implemented through scheduling, by providing different L1 / L2 configurations, or both. If provided by NAS, UE 301 provides auxiliary information for network slice selection in the appropriate RRC message. While the network can support a large number of slices, in some examples, the UE does not need to support more than eight slices simultaneously.

[0195] Network slices may include the CN 320 control plane and user plane NF, NG-RAN 310 in the serving PLMN, and N3IWF functionality in the serving PLMN. Each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI or a different SST, or both. An NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by its S-NSSAI. Network slices may differ for supported features and network function optimizations. In some examples, multiple network slice instances may deliver the same service or feature, but for different groups of UEs 301 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, each network slice may deliver different committed services or may be dedicated to a specific customer or enterprise, or both. In this example, each network slice may have different S-NSSAIs with the same SST but different slice differentiators. Additionally, a single UE may be served simultaneously by one or more network slice instances utilizing 5G AN, and the UE may be associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. Furthermore, the AMF 321 instance serving a single UE 301 may belong to each network slice instance serving that UE.

[0196] Network slicing in NG-RAN 310 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes the differentiation processing of traffic for different pre-configured network slices. Slice awareness in NG-RAN 310 is introduced at the PDU session level by indicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session in all signaling, including PDU session resource information. How NG-RAN 310 supports slicing enablement in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., a set of network functions per slice) depends on the specific implementation. NG-RAN 310 uses auxiliary information provided by UE 301 or 5GC 320 to select the RAN portion of a network slice, which explicitly identifies one or more pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. NG-RAN 310 also supports resource management and policy enforcement across slices according to SLAs. A single NG-RAN node can support multiple slices, and NG-RAN 310 can also appropriately apply appropriate RRM policies for each supported slice according to the SLA. NG-RAN 310 also supports QoS differentiation within slices.

[0197] NG-RAN 310 may also select AMF 321 during initial attachment using UE assistance information (if available). NG-RAN 310 uses the assistance information to route the initial NAS to AMF 321. If NG-RAN 310 cannot select AMF 321 using the assistance information, or if UE 301 does not provide any such information, NG-RAN 310 sends NAS signaling to the default AMF 321, which may be in the AMF 321 pool. For subsequent access, UE 301 provides a temporary ID assigned to UE 301 by 5GC 320 to enable NG-RAN 310 to route NAS messages to the appropriate AMF 321, provided that temporary ID is valid. NG-RAN 310 knows and can reach the AMF 321 associated with the temporary ID. Otherwise, the method used for initial attachment is applied.

[0198] NG-RAN 310 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 310 resource isolation can be achieved through RRM policies and protection mechanisms, which should prevent shared resource shortages in cases where one slice interrupts the service level protocol of another slice. In some examples, NG-RAN 310 resources can be completely assigned to a single slice. How NG-RAN 310 supports resource isolation depends on the specific implementation.

[0199] Some slices may only be partially available in the network. NG-RAN 310 is aware that slices supported in its neighboring cells may be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Slice availability may remain unchanged within the UE's registered area. NG-RAN 310 and 5GC 320 are responsible for processing service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. Granting or denying access to a slice may depend on factors such as support for that slice, resource availability, and NG-RAN 310 support for the requested service.

[0200] UE 301 can be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. When UE 301 is associated with multiple slices, only one signaling connection is maintained, and for intra-frequency cell reselection, UE 301 attempts to pre-allocate the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, a dedicated priority can be used to control the frequency pre-allocated by UE 301. 5GC 320 will verify that UE 301 has the right to access network slices. Before receiving the Initial Context Setup Request message, NG-RAN 310 may apply some temporary or local policies based on knowing the specific slice UE 301 is requesting access to. During the Initial Context Setup, NG-RAN 310 is notified of the slices requesting its resources.

[0201] NFV architectures and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more NFs onto a physical resource that includes a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (or alternatively, proprietary hardware). In other words, NFV systems can be used to perform virtual or reconfigurable concrete implementations of one or more EPC components and functions.

[0202] Figure 10 This is a block diagram showing the components of a system 1000 that supports NFV. The system 1000 is shown as including a Virtualization Infrastructure Manager (VIM) 1002, a Network Functions Virtualization Infrastructure (NFVI) 1004, a Virtualization Network Functions Manager (VNFM) 1006, a Virtualization Network Function (VNF) 1008, an Element Manager (EM) 1010, a Network Functions Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO) 1012, and a Network Manager (NM) 1014.

[0203] VIM 1002 manages the resources of NFVI 1004. NFVI 1004 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including hypervisors) used to execute System 1000. VIM 1002 can utilize NFVI 1004 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., the creation, maintenance, and teardown of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track the performance, failure, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0204] VNFM 1006 manages VNF 1008. VNF 1008 can be used to perform, for example, EPC components and functions. VNFM 1006 manages the lifecycle of VNF 1008 and tracks the performance, faults, and security of the virtual aspects of VNF 1008. EM1010 tracks the performance, faults, and security of the functional aspects of VNF 1008. Tracking data from VNFM 1006 and EM 1010 may include, for example, PM data used by VIM 1002 or NFVI 1004. Both VNFM 1006 and EM 1010 can scale up or down the number of VNFs in System 1000.

[0205] NFVO 1012 can coordinate, authorize, release, and engage the resources of NFVI 1004 to provide requested services (e.g., to perform EPC functions, components, or slices). NM 1014 can provide end-user function packages responsible for network management, which may include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of VNFs can occur using EM 1010).

[0206] Figure 11This is a block diagram illustrating components for reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executing any one or more of the techniques described herein. Specifically, Figure 11 A schematic diagram of hardware resource 1100 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1110, one or more memory or storage devices 1120, and one or more communication resources 1130, each of which can be communicatively coupled via bus 1140. For a specific implementation utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), an executable hypervisor 1102 provides an execution environment for one or more network slices or subslices to utilize hardware resource 1100.

[0207] Processor 1110 may include processor 1112 and processor 1114. Processor 1110 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0208] The memory / storage device 1120 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1120 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or solid-state storage devices, or combinations thereof.

[0209] Communication resource 1130 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1104 or one or more databases 1106 using network 1108. For example, communication resource 1130 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling using USB), cellular communication components, NFC components, etc. (or Low-power components Components and other communication components.

[0210] Instructions 1150 may include software, programs, applications, applets, or other executable code for causing at least any one of processors 1110 to perform any or more of the methods discussed herein. Instructions 1150 may reside wholly or partially within processor 1110 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), memory / storage device 1120, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of instructions 1150 may be transferred to hardware resource 1100 from any combination of peripheral device 1104 or database 1106. Thus, the memory of processor 1110, memory / storage device 1120, peripheral device 1104, and database 1106 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0211] In some specific implementations, at least one of the components illustrated in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform the functions described later. Figure 12-13B The method 1200 discussed includes one or more elements. In some specific embodiments, the baseband circuitry previously described in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures is configured according to later references. Figure 12-13B The method is operated according to one or more of the methods discussed herein. In some specific implementations, as previously described in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures, circuitry associated with one or more of the UE, base station, network elements, etc., may be configured according to the... Figure 12-13B One or more of the methods described herein are used for operation.

[0212] Figure 12 An exemplary method 1200 for processing internal UE UL overlap grants is illustrated. Method 1200 includes: configuring a logical channel (LC) using parameters that define a reliability metric associated with the LC (box 1202); determining, based on the parameters, that the grant meets reliability requirements (box 1204); and using the grant to transmit data associated with the LC (box 1206).

[0213] At box 1202, the UE uses parameters to configure or cause the LC to be configured. In some implementations, the parameters define the reliability metric associated with the LC. In some implementations, the reliability metric includes a comparison of the SE value associated with the DG and the SE value associated with the CG. In some implementations, the parameters include the SE value associated with the DG or the SE value associated with the CG.

[0214] At box 1204, the UE determines or causes the determined authorization to meet reliability requirements. In some implementations, the UE makes this determination based on parameters. In some implementations, the authorization is DG. In some implementations, the authorization is CG.

[0215] At box 1206, the UE uses grant to transmit or cause the transmission of data associated with LC. In some implementations, the data transmitted using grant is high-priority data (e.g., time-sensitive data). In some implementations, the data transmitted using grant is low-priority data (e.g., eMBB data).

[0216] In some implementations, to facilitate the determination of whether an authorization can meet the reliability requirements of a LC, each LC can be configured with an additional parameter (“seLimit”) that limits the reliability requirement metric for the corresponding LC configuration. In some implementations, this configuration is limited as follows:

[0217]

[0218]

[0219] The parameter "seLimit" indicates the index of the row in the mcs-table configured by PUSCH-Config, whose SE column limits the SE requirement of the LC. In some implementations, using additional information, any license (including CG or DG) with a corresponding SE greater than the SE requirement of the LC cannot be used to transmit LC data.

[0220] Figure 13A An example of preemptive transmission (deterministic preemption) of high-priority data based on a Data Group (DG) is illustrated. In some implementations, the DG may satisfy the reliability requirements of high-priority data (e.g., Time-Sensitive Communication (TSC) streams) to be scheduled by a Garbage Collection (CG). In some implementations, this can be achieved when the SE provided by the DG is equal to or less than the associated SE of the overlapping CG. In such implementations, the MAC Protocol Data Units (PDUs) prepared for the DG may include Service Data Units (SDUs) data for the overlapping CG. Figure 13A As shown, in some specific implementations, the following operations are used for preemptive transmissions scheduled by DG:

[0221] ● gNB 1310 transmits downlink control information (DCI) to UE 1320, the SE provided by the DCI being equal to or less than the SE of the overlapping CG;

[0222] ● Upon receiving a MAC PDU associated with CG and DG, the PHY can preempt CG transmission using DG transmission;

[0223] ● The input buffer associated with the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process used for CG will be flushed, and data of the corresponding MAC SDU that was not transmitted by DG will be pushed back to the original LC.

[0224] ●UE 1320 will stop the configuration grant timer for the HARQ procedure used for CG (if started) and will expect a response regarding or preempted CG transmissions;

[0225] ●Since the gNB 1310 knows that the DG will cover the overlapping CG, the gNB 1310 detects the PUSCH scheduled by the DG and ignores the transmission scheduled by the overlapping CG.

[0226] Figure 13B An example of preemptive preemption using DG to schedule spectrum for efficient transmission is illustrated. In some specific implementations, DG provides transmissions with a SE greater than the SE of the overlapping CG. Depending on the availability of high-priority / critical data, efficient spectrum transmission scheduled by DG can be prioritized by the PHY. For example... Figure 13B As shown, in some specific implementations, the following operations are used:

[0227] ● gNB 1410 transmits DCI to UE 1420, and the SE provided by the DCI is greater than the SE of the overlapping CG;

[0228] ●If there is high-priority data to be transmitted by the CG, UE 1420 will transmit the PUSCH scheduled by the CG and ignore the DG;

[0229] ●If there is no high-priority / critical data that requires more reliable transmission than the data provided by DG, but low-priority data (e.g., enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) data, etc.) is available, then UE 1420 will use DG to transmit low-priority data with high spectral efficiency.

[0230] ● If the transmission of low-priority data scheduled for CG has already begun, UE 1420 will preempt the CG transmission using DG transmission. The HARQ buffer for the CG HARQ procedure will be refreshed, and the associated configuration grant timer (if started) will be stopped;

[0231] ●Since the gNB 1410 does not know which license is used to preempt a transmission, it will blindly detect transmissions scheduled by both the CG and DG. If the decoding performed by the gNB 1410 is successful for any transmission with two overlapping licenses, the gNB 1410 recognizes the preempted license and ignores it accordingly.

[0232] ●However, if decoding of the PUSCH scheduled by both overlapping grants fails, gNB 1410 may send two retransmission requests to UE1420, corresponding to the two initial transmissions scheduled by CG and DG respectively.

[0233] Two retransmission requests may be allocated overlapping resources, as in two initial transport grants;

[0234] ● Upon receiving two retransmission requests, UE 1420 performs a corresponding retransmission of the first transmission, which can be a transmission scheduled by CG or DG.

[0235] ●Based on the received retransmissions, the gNB 1410 will apply HARQ to merge and blindly decode the two PUSCHs;

[0236] ● The decoding operation continues until a PUSCH is correctly decoded, then the gNB 1410 identifies the preempted license and ignores it by refreshing the corresponding HARQ buffer;

[0237] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0238] In various specific embodiments, the methods described herein can be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the order of the blocks of the method can be changed, and various elements can be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. Various modifications and changes can be made, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure. The various specific embodiments described herein are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. Thus, multiple examples may be provided for a component described herein as a single example. The boundaries between various components, operations, and data repositories are somewhat arbitrary, and specific operations are shown in the context of a particular exemplary configuration. Other assignments of functionality are contemplated, which may fall within the scope of the appended claims. Finally, the structure and functionality of the discrete components presented in the exemplary configuration can be implemented as combined structures or components.

[0239] The following terms and definitions apply to the examples described herein.

[0240] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes the following: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) and / or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable SoCs), digital signal processors (DSPs), etc. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the said functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0241] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" means, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, and / or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures). The terms "application circuit" and / or "baseband circuit" may be considered synonymous with "processor circuit" and may be referred to as "processor circuit".

[0242] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, etc.

[0243] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device of a remote user that has radio communication capabilities and can describe network resources in a communication network. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can be considered synonymous and can be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Additionally, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0244] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as networked computers, network hardware, network devices, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, radio network controllers, RAN devices, RAN nodes, gateways, servers, virtualized virtual networks (VNFs), NFVIs, etc.

[0245] As used herein, the term "computer system" means any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Additionally, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to the various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the terms "computer system" and / or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing and / or networking resources.

[0246] As used herein, the terms “appliance,” “computer appliance,” etc., refer to a computer device or computer system having program code (e.g., software or firmware) specifically designed to provide particular computing resources. A “virtual device” is a virtual machine image implemented by a device equipped with a hypervisor that virtualizes or emulates a computer appliance, or otherwise dedicates itself to providing particular computing resources.

[0247] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, and / or physical or virtual components within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time and / or processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power supply, input / output operations, port or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, databases and applications, units of workload, etc. "Hardware resources" can refer to computing, storage, and / or networking resources provided by physical hardware components. "Virtualized resources" can refer to computing, storage, and / or networking resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The terms "network resources" or "communication resources" can refer to resources accessible to computer devices / systems via a communication network. The term "system resources" can refer to any kind of shared entity providing services and can include computing resources and / or network resources. System resources can be considered as a coherent set of functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0248] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous and / or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," and / or any other similar term denoteing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices via a RAT for transmitting and receiving information.

[0249] As used in this article, the terms "instantiate" and "instantiate" refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0250] This document uses the terms “coupled,” “communicably coupled,” and their derivatives. The term “coupled” can mean two or more elements in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, or two or more elements in indirect contact but still interacting or cooperating with each other, and / or one or more other elements coupled or connected between elements that are said to be coupled to each other. The term “directly coupled” can mean two or more elements in direct contact with each other. The term “communicably coupled” can mean two or more elements that can be in contact with each other by means of communication, including via wires or other interconnections, via wireless communication channels or links, etc.

[0251] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual content of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

[0252] The term "SMTC" refers to the SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

[0253] The term "SSB" refers to the SS / PBCH block.

[0254] The term "primary cell" refers to an MCG cell operating on the primary frequency, where the UE either performs an initial connection establishment procedure or initiates a connection reconstruction procedure.

[0255] The term "primary SCG cell" refers to the SCG cell in which the UE performs random access when reconfiguration is performed using the synchronization process used for DC operation.

[0256] The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a special cell of a UE configured with a CA.

[0257] The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells that includes the PSCell of the UE configured with DC and zero or more secondary cells.

[0258] The term "serving cell" refers to the primary cell for a UE that is not configured with CA / DC in RRC_CONNECTED, where there is only one serving cell including the primary cell.

[0259] The term "serving cell" refers to a group of cells that includes the special cell used for UEs configured with CA / DC and in RRC_CONNECTED, and all secondary cells.

[0260] The term "special cell" refers to the PCcell of an MCG or the PSCell of an SCG used for DC operation; otherwise, the term "special cell" refers to the Pcell.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: Receive logical channel (LC) parameters, the LC parameters indicating reliability requirements associated with the LC, wherein the reliability requirements include a spectral efficiency (SE) limit for the LC, and wherein the SE limit indicates a row in the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table configured by the Physical Uplink Shared Channel Configuration message (PUSCH-Config). Determine that the SE of the first authorization is less than or equal to the SE limit value of the LC; Use the first authorization to transmit data associated with the LC; as well as In response to determining that the SE of a second license overlapping with the first license exceeds the SE limit of the LC, the use of the second license is avoided. The avoidance of using the second authorization includes: By using the first authorized transmission to preempt the second authorized transmission; Refresh the buffer corresponding to the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure of the second authorization; and Data from the corresponding Media Access Control (MAC) Service Data Unit (SDU) that was not transmitted by the first authorization is pushed back to the LC.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first authorization is a configuration authorization CG or a dynamic authorization DG.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the LC parameter indicating the reliability requirement associated with the LC comprises: Receive the LC parameters in the logical channel configuration message.

4. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: One or more processors; as well as The memory is configured to store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform operations including: Receive logical channel (LC) parameters, the LC parameters indicating reliability requirements associated with the LC, wherein the reliability requirements include a spectral efficiency (SE) limit for the LC, and wherein the SE limit indicates a row in the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table configured by the Physical Uplink Shared Channel Configuration message (PUSCH-Config). Determine that the SE of the first authorization is less than or equal to the SE limit value of the LC; Use the first authorization to transmit data associated with the LC; as well as In response to determining that the SE of a second license overlapping with the first license exceeds the SE limit of the LC, the use of the second license is avoided. The avoidance of using the second authorization includes: By using the first authorized transmission to preempt the second authorized transmission; Refresh the buffer corresponding to the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure of the second authorization; and Data from the corresponding Media Access Control (MAC) Service Data Unit (SDU) that was not transmitted by the first authorization is pushed back to the LC.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first authorization is a configuration authorization CG or a dynamic authorization DG.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein receiving the LC parameter indicating the reliability requirement associated with the LC comprises: Receive the LC parameters in the logical channel configuration message.

7. A computer program product, which, when executed by one or more processors, causes to perform operations including: Receive logical channel (LC) parameters, the LC parameters indicating reliability requirements associated with the LC, wherein the reliability requirements include a spectral efficiency (SE) limit for the LC, and wherein the SE limit indicates a row in the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table configured by the Physical Uplink Shared Channel Configuration message (PUSCH-Config). Determine that the SE of the first authorization is less than or equal to the SE limit value of the LC; Use the first authorization to transmit data associated with the LC; as well as In response to determining that the SE of a second license overlapping with the first license exceeds the SE limit of the LC, the use of the second license is avoided. The avoidance of using the second authorization includes: By using the first authorized transmission to preempt the second authorized transmission; Refresh the buffer corresponding to the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure of the second authorization; and Data from the corresponding Media Access Control (MAC) Service Data Unit (SDU) that was not transmitted by the first authorization is pushed back to the LC.

8. The computer program product according to claim 7, wherein the first license is a configuration license (CG) or a dynamic license (DG).

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein receiving the LC parameters indicating the reliability requirement associated with the LC comprises: Receive the LC parameters in the logical channel configuration message.

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