Design of low peak-to-average demodulation reference signal for physical uplink control channel

Abstract

Methods, systems, apparatus, and computer programs for providing uplink control information to an access node. In one aspect, the method may include the following actions: determining, by a UE, a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) for a PUCCH message of the UE to multiplex a PUCCH transmission with one or more PUCCH messages from one or more other UEs, and encoding, by the UE, the PUCCH message for transmission by the UE using the OCC.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 836,014, filed on April 18, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art

[0003] User equipment (UE) may be used to transmit data to or receive data from one or more other devices using wireless communications. Such wireless communication networks evolve over time and may include 3G wireless networks, 4G wireless networks such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, 5G networks. Such wireless networks may also include successful networks that are forthcoming and built on the technology of one or more of these wireless networks. Technical Field

[0004] The present disclosure relates to a New Radio (NR) Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) low Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) reference signal design. Summary of the invention

[0005] In Rel-15 NR, for the case of PUCCH format 4 based on DFT-S-OFDM with π / 2BPSK modulation, a corresponding demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is generated in the frequency domain based on a computer generated sequence (CGS) of length 12, which is mapped to a QPSK constellation corresponding to a resource allocation of up to 1 PRB. For the case where π / 2BPSK modulation is used for PUCCH, the PAPR of DMRS is reduced compared to control channel data, especially when pulse shaping is used.

[0006] In this disclosure, we propose a CGS design of length 12 and port multiplexing of DMRS for PUCCH format 4 for NR Rel-16 and above.

[0007] According to an innovative aspect of the present disclosure, a method for low PAPR DM-RS port multiplexing for PUCCH is disclosed. In one aspect, the method may include the following actions: determining, by a UE, a type of PUCCH format to be used for transmitting uplink control information, and multiplexing the DM-RS ports of the UE using a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) based on the PUCCH format 4 determined by the UE to be used.

[0008] Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs for performing the actions of the method defined by the instructions encoded on a computer-readable storage device.

[0009] These and other versions may optionally include one or more of the following features. For example, in some embodiments, the method may further include determining the number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed, and based on determining that two UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, block-wise multiplying two length-12 time-domain OCC sequences by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence in the time domain before DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid. In such embodiments, the time-domain OCC may be determined using Table 5, Table 6, or Table 7.

[0010] In some embodiments, the method may further include determining the number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed, and based on determining that four UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, block-wise multiplying one of the four orthogonal time domain OCC sequences by the π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence before DFT spreading and mapping to the frequency domain subcarrier grid. In such embodiments, the time domain OCC is determined using Table 8. In such embodiments, the index of the time domain OCC is selected as the PUCCH OCC index.

[0011] According to another innovative aspect of the present disclosure, a method for receiving uplink control information from multiple UEs is disclosed. In one aspect, the method may include receiving, by an access node of a wireless network, data representing a set of multiplexed PUCCH messages from each of a plurality of UEs in a physical resource block (PRB), wherein the multiplexed PUCCH messages are multiplexed using a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC), and storing, by the access node, at least a portion of the data representing the set of multiplexed PUCCH messages from the plurality of UEs for at least a predetermined amount of time.

[0012] Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs for performing the actions of the method defined by the instructions encoded on a computer-readable storage device.

[0013] These and other versions may optionally include one or more of the following features. For example, in some embodiments, storing, by the access node, at least a portion of the data representing the set of multiplexed PUCCH messages from the plurality of UEs for at least a predetermined amount of time may include caching, by the access node, the data representing the multiplexed PUCCH from one or more of the plurality of UEs until the access node allocates computing resources to decode the data representing the multiplexed PUCCH from the plurality of UEs.

[0014] In some embodiments, the method may further include decoding, by an access node of the wireless network, multiplexed PUCCH messages from a plurality of UEs.

[0015] In some embodiments, the OCC may be determined according to one of Table 2, Table 3, and Tables 5-10.

[0016] In some embodiments, the access node is a next generation eNodeB (gNB).

[0017] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for providing uplink control information to an access node is provided. In one aspect, the method may include the following actions: determining, by the UE, a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) of a PUCCH message of the UE to multiplex the PUCCH transmission with one or more PUCCH messages from one or more other UEs, and encoding, by the UE, the PUCCH message for transmission by the UE using the OCC.

[0018] Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs for performing the actions of the method defined by the instructions encoded on a computer-readable storage device.

[0019] These and other versions may optionally include one or more of the following features.For example, in some embodiments, PUCCH messages are multiplexed in the same PRB.

[0020] In some embodiments, the OCC is determined using any of Table 2, Table 3, and Tables 5-10.

[0021] In some implementations, encoding a PUCCH message for transmission by a UE according to the OCC may include generating orthogonal DM-RS ports based on the OCC.

[0022] In some implementations, encoding a PUCCH message for transmission by a UE according to the OCC may include generating a frequency-domain DM-RS sequence based on orthogonal DM-RS ports.

[0023] In some implementations, encoding a PUCCH message for transmission by a UE according to the OCC may include mapping a frequency-domain DM-RS sequence to subcarriers.

[0024] These and other aspects of the disclosure are discussed in more detail below in the detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture of a network system is shown.

[0026] Figure 2 An exemplary architecture of a system including a first CN is shown.

[0027] Figure 3 The architecture of a system including a second CN is shown.

[0028] Figure 4 An example of infrastructure equipment is shown.

[0029] Figure 5 An example of a platform is shown.

[0030] Figure 6 Exemplary components of a baseband circuit and a radio front end module (REFM) are shown.

[0031] Figure 7 Various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device are shown.

[0032] Figure 8 Components of the core network are shown.

[0033] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a system supporting NFV.

[0034] Fig.10 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (eg, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0035] Fig.11 is an example of PUCCH format 4, which is designed for multiplexing PUCCHs from up to 4 UEs on a PRB.

[0036] Fig.12 is a flow chart of an example of a process for low PAPR DM-RS port multiplexing for PUCCH.

[0037] Fig.13 is a flow chart of an example of a process for receiving uplink control information from multiple UEs.

[0038] Fig.14 is a flow diagram of an example of a process for providing uplink control information to an access node. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Figure 1 An exemplary architecture of a system 100 of a network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The following description is provided for an example system 100 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), etc.

[0040] like Figure 1As shown, system 100 includes UE 101a and UE 101b (collectively referred to as "multiple UEs 101" or "UE 101"). In this example, UE 101 is shown as a smart phone (e.g., a handheld touch screen mobile computing device that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a consumer electronic device, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a feature phone, a tablet computer, a wearable computer device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, a wireless handheld device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), an in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) device, an instrument panel (IC), a head-up display (HUD) device, an on-board diagnostic (OBD) device, a dashtop mobile equipment (DME), a mobile data terminal (MDT), an electronic engine management system (EEMS), an electronic / engine electronic control unit (ECU), an electronic / engine electronic control module (ECM), an embedded system, a microcontroller, a control module, an engine management system (EMS), a networked or "smart" appliance, an MTC device, an M2M, an IoT device, etc.

[0041] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0042] The UE 101 may be configured to be connected, e.g., communicatively coupled, to the RAN 110. In an embodiment, the RAN 110 may be an NG RAN or a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or a GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to the RAN 110 operating in an NR or 5G system 100, while the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to the RAN 110 operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. Multiple UEs 101 utilize connections (or channels) 103 and 104, respectively, each connection comprising a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0043] In this example, connections 103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces to achieve communication coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, the UE 101 may directly exchange communication data via the ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface 105, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0044] UE 101b is shown configured to access AP 106 (also referred to as "WLAN node 106," "WLAN 106," "WLAN terminal 106," "WT 106," etc.) via connection 107. Connection 107 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 106 will include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 106 is shown connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 101b, RAN 110, and AP 106 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 101b in RRC_CONNECTED state being configured by RAN nodes 111a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 101b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 107) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over connection 107. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0045] The RAN 110 includes one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 111a and 111b (collectively referred to as "RAN nodes 111") that enable connections 103 and 104. As used herein, the terms "access node", "access point", etc. may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functions for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system 100, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 111 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as a macrocell base station and / or a low power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0046] In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splits, such as PDCP splits, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 111; MAC / PHY splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 111; or "lower PHY" splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and upper portions of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portions of the PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes 111. This virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of multiple RAN nodes 111 to execute other virtualized applications. In some embodiments, individual RAN nodes 111 may represent multiple RAN nodes 111 connected to the network via individual F1 interfaces ( Figure 1 In these embodiments, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., Figure 4), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 110 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. In addition or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 111 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a next generation eNB that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to the UE 101 and is connected to the 5GC (e.g., Figure 3 RAN node of CN 320).

[0047] In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN nodes 111 may be or act as an RSU. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the road side that provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE 101 (vUE 101). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct Short Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low latency communications as well as other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or backhaul network.

[0048] Any of the RAN nodes 111 may serve as a termination point for the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 101. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 111 may perform various logical functions of the RAN 110, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0049] In an embodiment, UE 101 may be configured to communicate with each other or any of RAN nodes 111 using OFDM communication signals over a multi-carrier communication channel according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0050] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 111 to the UE 101, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice, which makes the allocation of radio resources intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0051] According to various embodiments, the UE 101 and the RAN node 111 communicate data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) through a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed frequency band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed frequency band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of about 400 MHz to about 3.8 GHz, and the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz frequency band.

[0052] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UE 101 and the RAN node 111 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these embodiments, the UE 101 and the RAN node 111 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0053] LBT is a mechanism by which equipment (e.g., UE 101, RAN node 111, etc.) senses the medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include a CCA that utilizes at least an ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an expected transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0054] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs use a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 101, AP 106, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the same time, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid conflicts. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a conflict occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some embodiments, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have a LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS of LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0055] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers can be different for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0056] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may be different, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL, and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are referred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing PCCs may require the UE 101 to undergo switching. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in an unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and the LAA SCells are assisted by the PCells operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0057] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to multiple UEs 101. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It may also inform multiple UEs 101 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 101b within a cell) may be performed at any one of the RAN nodes 111 based on channel quality information fed back from any one of the UEs 101. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the UEs 101.

[0058] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0059] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, referred to as EREGs. In some cases, ECCEs may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0060] RAN nodes 111 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 112. In embodiments where system 100 is an LTE system (eg, when CN 120 is a Figure 2 220 in the EPC 120), the interface 112 may be an X2 interface 112. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC 120, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC 120. In some embodiments, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface, and may be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 101 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 101; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0061] When system 100 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN 120 is Figure 3In an embodiment of the present invention (when the 5GC 320 in the 5GC 120 is connected), the interface 112 may be an Xn interface 112. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 120, between a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to the 5GC 120, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC 120. In some embodiments, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 101 in connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 111. The mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 111 to the new (target) serving RAN node 111; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 111 and the new (target) serving RAN node 111. The protocol stack of Xn-U may include a transport network layer built on an Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of a UDP and / or IP layer for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other embodiments, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0062] RAN 110 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network—in this embodiment, to a core network (CN) 120. CN 120 may include a plurality of network elements 122 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of a plurality of UEs 101) connected to CN 120 via RAN 110. The components of CN 120 may be implemented in one physical node or in separate physical nodes, which include components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 120 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 120 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0063] Generally speaking, the application server 130 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services for the UE 101 via the EPC 120 (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.).

[0064] In an embodiment, CN 120 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC 120" or the like), and RAN 110 may be connected to CN 120 via an NG interface 113. In an embodiment, NG interface 113 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 111 and AMF. Figure 3 Discussing CN 120 in more detail is an implementation of 5GC 120.

[0065] In an embodiment, CN 120 may be a 5G CN (referred to as “5GC 120”, etc.), while in other embodiments, CN 120 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 120 is an EPC (referred to as “EPC 120”, etc.), RAN 110 may be connected to CN 120 via an S1 interface 113. In an embodiment, S1 interface 113 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 114, which carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 115, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 111 and MME.

[0066] Figure 2 An exemplary architecture of a system 200 including a first CN according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 2 FIG. 2 shows an exemplary architecture of a system 200 including a first CN 220 according to various embodiments. In this example, the system 200 may implement the LTE standard, wherein the CN 220 is a first CN 220 corresponding to the LTE standard. Figure 1 In addition, UE 201 may communicate with EPC 220 of CN 120. Figure 1 The UE 101 is the same as or similar to the UE 101, and the E-UTRAN 210 may be Figure 1 The CN 220 may be a RAN that is the same as or similar to the RAN 110 of the mobile station, and may include the RAN node 111 discussed previously. The CN 220 may include an MME 221, an S-GW 222, a P-GW 223, an HSS 224, and an SGSN 225.

[0067] The MME 221 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional SGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the current location of the UE 201. The MME 221 may perform various MM procedures to manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also referred to as "EPS MM" or "EMM" in an E-UTRAN system) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data storage, etc. for maintaining knowledge of the current location of the UE 201, providing user identity confidentiality to users / subscribers, and / or performing other similar services. Each UE 201 and the MME 221 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and when the attachment procedure is successfully completed, an MM context may be established in the UE 201 and the MME 221. The MM context may be a data structure or database object that stores MM-related information of the UE 201. The MME 221 may be coupled to the HSS 224 via an S6a reference point, to the SGSN 225 via an S3 reference point, and to the S-GW 222 via an S11 reference point.

[0068] SGSN 225 may be a node that serves UE 201 by tracking the location of individual UE 201 and performing security functions. In addition, SGSN 225 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 221; handling of UE 201 time zone functions, as specified by MME 221; and MME selection for handover to E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between MME 221 and SGSN 225 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in an idle state and / or an active state.

[0069] The HSS 224 may include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entities in handling communication sessions. The EPC 220 may include one or several HSSs 224, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 224 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing solutions, location dependencies, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 224 and the MME 221 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing users to access the EPC 220 between the HSS 224 and the MME 221.

[0070] The S-GW 222 may terminate the S1 interface 113 ( Figure 2 The S-GW 222 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies. The S11 reference point between the S-GW 222 and the MME 221 may provide a control plane between the MME 221 and the S-GW 222. The S-GW 222 may be coupled to the P-GW 223 via the S5 reference point.

[0071] The P-GW 223 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN 230. The P-GW 223 may communicate with the PDN 230 via the IP interface 125 (see, e.g., Figure 1 ) routes data packets between EPC 220 and external networks such as a network including application server 130 (alternatively referred to as "AF"). In an embodiment, P-GW 223 may communicate with the EPC 220 via IP communication interface 125 (see, e.g., Figure 1 ) is communicatively coupled to an application server ( Figure 1 Application server 130 or Figure 2The S5 reference point between the P-GW 223 and the S-GW 222 may provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 223 and the S-GW 222. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 222 relocation due to the mobility of the UE 201 and whether the S-GW 222 needs to be connected to a non-colocated P-GW 223 for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW 223 may also include nodes for policy implementation and charging data collection, such as a PCEF (not shown). In addition, the SGi reference point between the P-GW 223 and the packet data network (PDN) 230 may be an operator-external public, private PDN, or an internal operator packet data network, such as for providing IMS services. The P-GW 223 may be coupled to the PCRF 226 via a Gx reference point.

[0072] PCRF 226 is a policy and charging control element of EPC 220. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 226 in a domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE 201. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of UE 201: a domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). PCRF 226 may be communicatively coupled to application server 230 via P-GW 223. Application server 230 may signal PCRF 226 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate QoS and charging parameters. PCRF 226 may configure the rule to a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI, which starts QoS and charging as specified by application server 230. The Gx reference point between PCRF 226 and P-GW 223 may allow for the transfer of QoS policies and charging rules from PCRF 226 to PCEF in P-GW 223. The Rx reference point may reside between PDN 230 (or "AF 230") and PCRF 226.

[0073] Figure 3The architecture of a system 300 including a second CN according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. The system 300 is shown to include a UE 301, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed UE 101 and UE 201; a (R) AN 310, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed RAN 110 and RAN 210, and which may include the previously discussed RAN node 111; and a DN 303, which may be, for example, an operator service, Internet access, or a 3rd party service; and a 5GC 320. The 5GC 320 may include an AUSF 322; an AMF 321; an SMF 324; an NEF 323; a PCF 326; an NRF 325; an UDM 327; an AF 328; an UPF 302; and an NSSF 329.

[0074] UPF 302 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with DN 303, and a branch point to support multi-host PDU sessions. UPF 302 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane portion of policy rules, lawful interception of packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) on the user plane, perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 302 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to data networks. DN 303 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. DN 303 may include or be similar to the application server 130 discussed previously. UPF 302 may interact with SMF 324 via the N4 reference point between SMF 324 and UPF 302.

[0075] AUSF 322 may store data for authentication of UE 301 and handle authentication-related functions. AUSF 322 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. AUSF 322 may communicate with AMF 321 via the N12 reference point between AMF 321 and AUSF 322; and may communicate with UDM 327 via the N13 reference point between UDM 327 and AUSF 322. In addition, AUSF 322 may present an interface based on Nausf services.

[0076] AMF 321 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering UE 301, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 321 may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between AMF 321 and SMF 324. AMF 321 may provide transport for SM messages between UE 301 and SMF 324, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 321 may also provide communication between UE 301 and SMSF ( Figure 3 AN 310 and AMF 321). The AMF 321 may provide transport for SMS messages between the (R)AN 310 and the UE 301 (not shown). The AMF 321 may act as a SEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 322 and the UE 301, receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 301 authentication process. In the case of using USIM-based authentication, the AMF 321 may retrieve security material from the AUSF 322. The AMF 321 may also include an SCM function that receives keys from the SEA for deriving access network-specific keys. In addition, the AMF 321 may be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the (R)AN 310 and the AMF 321; and the AMF 321 may be a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0077] The AMF 321 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 301 over the N3 IWF interface. The N3 IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3 IWF may be the termination point for the N2 interface between the (R) AN 310 and the AMF 321 for the control plane, and may be the termination point for the N3 reference point between the (R) AN 310 and the UPF 302 for the user plane. Thus, the AMF 321 may process N2 signaling for PDU sessions and QoS from the SMF 324 and the AMF 321, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, mark N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to N3 packet markings, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such markings received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 301 and the AMF 321 via the N1 reference point between the UE 301 and the AMF 321, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 301 and the UPF 302. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 301. The AMF 321 may present an interface based on the Namf service, and may be an N14 reference point between two AMFs 321 and an N14 reference point between the AMF 321 and the 5G-EIR ( Figure 3 The termination point of the N17 reference point between the two (not shown).

[0078] UE 301 may need to register with AMF 321 in order to receive network services. RM is used to register UE 301 with the network (e.g., AMF 321) or deregister UE 301, and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., AMF 321). UE 301 may operate in the RM-REGISTERED state or the RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, UE 301 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 321 does not maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 301, so AMF 321 cannot reach UE 301. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 301 is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 321 may maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 301, so AMF 321 can reach UE 301. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 301 may perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by expiration of a periodic update timer (e.g., to notify the network that UE 301 is still active), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0079] The AMF 321 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 301, each RM context being associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context may be a data structure, a database object, etc., which indicates or stores, among other things, the registration status and periodic update timer for each access type. The AMF 321 may also store a 5GC MM context which may be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. In various embodiments, the AMF 321 may store the CE mode B restriction parameters of the UE 301 in the associated MM context or RM context. The AMF 321 may also derive values ​​from the UE's usage setting parameters already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when necessary.

[0080] The CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 301 and the AMF 321 over the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 301 and the CN 320, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., an RRC connection or a UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPP access) and an N2 connection of the UE 301 between the AN (e.g., the RAN 310) and the AMF 321. The UE 301 may operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 301 operates in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE 301 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 321 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 310 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 301. When the UE 301 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state / mode, the UE 301 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 321 through the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 310 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 301. Establishing an N2 connection between the (R)AN 310 and the AMF 321 may cause the UE 301 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when the N2 signaling between the (R)AN 310 and the AMF 321 is released, the UE 301 may transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

[0081] SMF 324 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP functions; configuring traffic steering of UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface toward the policy control function; control portion of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system); terminating the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to AN via AMF over N2; and determining the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between a UE 301 and a data network (DN) 303 identified by a data network name (DNN). The PDU session may be established upon request by UE 301, modified upon request by UE 301 and 5GC 320, and released upon request by UE 301 and 5GC 320 using NAS SM signaling exchanged between UE 301 and SMF 324 over the N1 reference point. Upon request from an application server, 5GC 320 may trigger a specific application in UE 301. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE 301 may deliver the trigger message (or relevant parts / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in UE 301. The identified applications in UE 301 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF 324 may check whether the UE 301 request complies with user subscription information associated with UE 301. In this regard, SMF 324 may retrieve and / or request to receive update notifications about SMF 324 level subscription data from UDM 327.

[0082] SMF 324 may include the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system, in VPLMN); and support interaction with external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication through external DN. In roaming scenarios, an N16 reference point between two SMFs 324 may be included in the system 300, which may be located between an SMF 324 in a visited network and another SMF 324 in a home network. In addition, SMF 324 may present an interface based on Nsmf services.

[0083] NEF 323 may provide components for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 328), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, NEF 323 may authenticate, authorize and / or restrict AF. NEF 323 may also convert information exchanged with AF 328 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 323 may convert between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 323 may also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on their exposure capabilities. The information may be stored at NEF 323 as structured data or at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information may then be re-exposed to other NFs and AFs by NEF 323 and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 323 may present an interface based on Nnef services.

[0084] NRF 325 may support service discovery functionality, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information about discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 325 also maintains information about available NF instances and services supported by these instances. As used herein, the term "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of a program code. In addition, NRF 325 may present an interface based on Nnrf services.

[0085] The PCF 326 may provide for control plane functions to enforce their policy rules, and may also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF 326 may also implement a FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 327. The PCF 326 may communicate with the AMF 321 via the N15 reference point between the PCF 326 and the AMF 321, which may include the PCF 326 in the visited network and the AMF 321 in the case of a roaming scenario. The PCF 326 may communicate with the AF 328 via the N5 reference point between the PCF 326 and the AF 328; and communicate with the SMF 324 via the N7 reference point between the PCF 326 and the SMF 324. The system 300 and / or the CN 320 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF 326 (in the home network) and the PCF 326 in the visited network. In addition, the PCF 326 may present an interface based on Npcf services.

[0086] UDM 327 may process subscription-related information to support the handling of communication sessions by network entities, and may store subscription data of UE 301. For example, subscription data may be transmitted between UDM 327 and AMF 321 via an N8 reference point between UDM 327 and AMF. UDM 327 may include two parts: application FE and UDR ( Figure 3 FE and UDR are not shown). UDR can store subscription data and policy data of UDM 327 and PCF 326, and / or structured data for exposure and application data of NEF 323 (including PFD for application detection, application request information of multiple UEs 301). Nudr service-based interface can be presented by UDR 221 to allow UDM 327, PCF 326 and NEF 323 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete and subscribe to notifications of related data changes in UDR. UDM may include UDM-FE, which is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. In different transactions, several different front ends may serve the same user. UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in UDR, and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management and subscription management. UDR can interact with SMF 324 via the N10 reference point between UDM 327 and SMF 324. UDM 327 may also support SMS management, where SMS-FE implements similar application logic discussed previously. In addition, UDM 327 may present an interface based on Nudm services.

[0087] AF 328 can provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NCE, and interact with policy framework for policy control. NCE can be a mechanism that allows 5GC 320 and AF 328 to provide information to each other via NEF 323, which can be used for edge computing implementation. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the UE 301 access point of the attachment to achieve effective service delivery through reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transmission network. For edge computing implementations, 5GC can select UPF 302 near UE 301 and perform traffic steering from UPF 302 to DN 303 via N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by AF 328. In this way, AF 328 can affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 328 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow AF 328 to interact directly with the relevant NF. In addition, AF 328 can present an interface based on Naf services.

[0088] NSSF 329 may select a set of network slice instances to serve UE 301. If necessary, NSSF 329 may also determine the allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI. NSSF 329 may also determine a set of AMFs to serve UE 301, or a list of candidate AMFs 321, based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying NRF 325. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE 301 may be triggered by AMF 321, where UE 301 registers by interacting with NSSF 329, which may result in changes to AMF 321. NSSF 329 may interact with AMF 321 via the N22 reference point between AMF 321 and NSSF 329; and may communicate via the N31 reference point ( Figure 3 The NSSF 329 may communicate with another NSSF 329 in the visited network (not shown). In addition, the NSSF 329 may present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0089] As previously discussed, CN 320 may include SMSF, which may be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relaying SM messages to / from UE 301 to / from other entities, such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers. SMS may also interact with AMF 321 and UDM 327 for notification procedures that UE 301 is available for SMS transmission (e.g., setting a UE unreachable flag and notifying UDM 327 when UE 301 is available for SMS).

[0090] CN 120 may also include Figure 3 Other elements not shown, such as data storage system / architecture, 5G-EIR, SEPP, etc. The data storage system may include SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF may communicate with any NF and UDSF ( Figure 3 The N18 reference point between the NF and the NF (not shown) stores or retrieves unstructured data in or from the UDSF (e.g., UE context). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing their respective unstructured data, or individual NFs may each have their own UDSF located at or near a single NF. In addition, the UDSF may present an interface based on the Nudsf service ( Figure 3 (not shown). The 5G-EIR may be a NF that checks the status of the PEI to determine whether to blacklist a specific equipment / entity from the network; and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the inter-PLMN control plane interface.

[0091] Additionally, there may be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between NF services in a NF; however, for clarity, Figure 3These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one example, CN 320 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between an MME (e.g., MME 221) and an AMF 321, so as to enable interworking between CN 320 and CN 220. Other example interfaces / reference points may include an interface based on N5g-EIR services presented by 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between an NRF in a visited network and an NRF in a home network; and an N31 reference point between an NSSF in a visited network and an NSSF in a home network.

[0092] Figure 4 An example of infrastructure equipment 400 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Infrastructure equipment 400 (or "system 400") can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node (such as the RAN node 111 and / or AP 106 shown and described previously), an application server 130, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, system 400 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0093] System 400 includes: application circuit 405, baseband circuit 410, one or more radio front end modules (RFEM) 415, memory circuit 420, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 425, power tee circuit 430, network controller circuit 435, network interface connector 440, satellite positioning circuit 445 and user interface 450. In some embodiments, device 400 may include additional elements, such as, for example, memory / storage, display, camera, sensor or input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuit may be included separately in more than one device for CRAN, vBBU or other similar embodiments.

[0094] The application circuit 405 includes, for example, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more low dropout regulators (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, 2C or general programmable serial interface module, real-time clock (RTC), timer-counter including interval timer and watchdog timer, general input / output (I / O or IO), memory card controller such as secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar products, universal serial bus (USB) interface, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface and joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of application circuit 405 can be coupled with memory / storage element or can include memory / storage element, and can be configured to execute instructions stored in memory / storage element to enable various applications or operating systems to run on system 400. In some embodiments, memory / storage element can be on-chip memory circuit, which can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0095] The processor of the 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 any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 405 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating in accordance with various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 405 may include one or more Apple A series processors, Intel or Processor: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or processors; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium(TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, system 400 may not utilize application circuit 405, and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0096] In some embodiments, the application circuit 405 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be a microprocessor, a programmable processing device, etc. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, a computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerator. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); etc. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 405 may include logic blocks or logic structures, and other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the 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), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc.

[0097] Baseband circuit 410 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Figure 6 The various hardware electronic components of baseband circuit 410 are discussed.

[0098] User interface circuitry 450 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with system 400 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component 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 touch pad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0099] The radio front end module (RFEM) 415 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-mmWave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some embodiments, the one or more sub-mmWave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Figure 6 Antenna array 611), and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 415 combining both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0100] The memory circuit 420 may include one or more of the following: a volatile memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a non-volatile memory (NVM) including a high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as a "flash memory"), a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with and The memory circuit 420 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0101] The PMIC 425 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 430 may provide power extracted from the network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure equipment 400 using a single cable.

[0102] The network controller circuit 435 can provide a connection to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on a GRE tunnel, Ethernet based on a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. A physical connection can be used to provide a network connection to / from the infrastructure equipment 400 via a network interface connector 440, which can be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 435 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some embodiments, the network controller circuit 435 may include multiple controllers for providing connections to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0103] The positioning circuit 445 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by a positioning network of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS), etc. for navigation), etc. The positioning circuit 445 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communications) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 445 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 445 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 410 and / or the RFEM 415 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 445 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 405, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN node 111, etc.), etc.

[0104] Figure 4 The components shown may communicate with each other using interface circuitry that may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0105] Figure 5 An example of a platform 500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 500 may be suitable for use as a UE 101, 201, 301, an application server 130, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 500 may include any combination of components shown in the example. The components of the platform 500 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), part of an IC, a discrete electronic device, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof adapted in the computer platform 500, or implemented as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system. Figure 5The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 500. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0106] Application circuit 505 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and LDO, interrupt controller, serial interface (such as SPI), I 2 C or general programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer (including interval timer and watchdog timer), general I / O, memory card controller (such as SD MMC or similar controller), USB interface, MIPI interface and JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 505 can be coupled with or can include a memory / storage element, and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 500. In some embodiments, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit, which can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0107] The processor of the 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 embodiments, the application circuit 405 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0108] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 505 may include an Apple A series processor. The processor of the application circuit 505 may also be one or more of the following: based on Architecture Core TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU class processors, or available from Santa Clara, CA company( Another such processor is Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA); Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM Processor, Texas Instruments, Open Multimedia ApplicationsPlatform(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 embodiments, the application circuit 505 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 505 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package.

[0109] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 505 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); etc. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 505 may include logic blocks or logic structures, and other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 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), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in look-up tables (LUTs), etc.

[0110] Baseband circuit 510 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Figure 6 The various hardware electronic components of baseband circuit 510 are discussed.

[0111] The RFEM 515 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some embodiments, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Figure 6 Antenna array 611), and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 515 combining both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0112] The memory circuit 520 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a quantitative system memory. For example, the memory circuit 520 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 520 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) based low power double data rate (LPDDR) design such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 520 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 520 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with the application circuit 505. In order to provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 520 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 500 may be combined with a memory device obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0113] Removable memory circuitry 523 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., 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, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0114] The platform 500 may further include an interface circuit (not shown) for connecting external devices to the platform 500. External devices connected to the platform 500 via the interface circuit include a sensor circuit 521 and an electromechanical component (EMC) 522, and a removable memory device coupled to a removable memory circuit 523.

[0115] Sensor circuitry 521 includes a device sensor, module, or subsystem that is intended to detect events or changes in its environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, gyroscope, and / or magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0116] The EMC 522 includes devices, modules or subsystems that are intended to enable the platform 500 to change its state, position and / or orientation or to move or control mechanisms or (sub) systems. In addition, the EMC 522 can be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 500 to indicate the current state of the EMC 522. The EMC 522 includes one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMR) and / or solid-state relays (SSR)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 500 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 522 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients.

[0117] In some embodiments, the interface circuit may connect the platform 500 to the positioning circuit 545. The positioning circuit 545 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the GPS of the United States, the GLONASS of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the Beidou navigation satellite system of China, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS of Japan, DORIS of France, etc.), etc. The positioning circuit 545 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 545 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 545 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 410 and / or the RFEM 515 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 545 may also provide position data and / or time data to application circuitry 505, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, etc.

[0118] In some embodiments, the interface circuit may connect the platform 500 to a near field communication (NFC) circuit 540. The NFC circuit 540 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, wherein a magnetic field is sensed to enable communication between the NFC circuit 540 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touch point") external to the platform 500. The NFC circuit 540 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 540 by executing an NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit a short-range RF signal. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuit 540, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuit 540 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smart phone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) proximate to the platform 500.

[0119] The driver 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 driver circuit 546 may include various drivers to allow other components of the platform 500 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the platform 500. For example, the driver circuit 546 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface of the platform 500, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 521 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 521, an EMC driver for obtaining an actuator position of the EMC 522 and / or controlling and allowing access to the 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.

[0120] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 525 (also referred to as “power management circuit 525”) may manage power provided to various components of the platform 500. Specifically, the PMIC 525 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion relative to the baseband circuit 510. When the platform 500 is capable of being powered by a battery 530, for example, when the device is included in a UE 101, 201, 301, the PMIC 525 may generally be included.

[0121] In some embodiments, the PMIC 525 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 500. For example, if the platform 500 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, then after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 500 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 500 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. are performed. The platform 500 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device wakes up periodically again to listen to the network and then powers off again. The platform 500 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power saving modes may prevent the device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0122] The battery 530 can power the platform 500, but in some examples, the platform 500 can be mounted in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 530 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some embodiments, such as in V2X applications, the battery 530 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0123] In some embodiments, the battery 530 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 500 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 530. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 530, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 530 to provide fault prediction. The BMS may transmit information about the battery 530 to the application circuit 505 or other components of the platform 500. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 505 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 530 or the current from the battery 530. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 500 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0124] A power block or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 530. In some examples, the power block XS30 can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtain power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in the computer platform 500. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 530 and therefore the current required. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance.

[0125] The user interface circuit 550 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 500, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 500 and / or a peripheral component interface designed to implement interaction with the peripheral components of the platform 500. The user interface circuit 550 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, including, in particular, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where outputs of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. are generated or produced by the operation of the platform 500. The output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printers, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor circuitry 521 may be used as an input device circuitry (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuitry (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0126] Although not shown, the components of platform 500 may communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, a time-triggered protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0127] Figure 6 6 and 615. The baseband circuit 610 and the radio front end module (RFEM) 615 are shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The baseband circuit 610 corresponds to Figure 4 The baseband circuit 410 and Figure 5 Baseband circuit 510. RFEM615 respectively correspond to Figure 4 RFEM 415 and Figure 5 RFEM 515. As shown, RFEM 615 may include at least a radio frequency (RF) circuit 606, a front end module (FEM) circuit 608, and an antenna array 611 coupled together as shown.

[0128] The baseband circuit 610 includes circuits and / or control logic components that are configured to execute various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 606. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 610 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 610 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions is not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functions in other aspects. The baseband circuit 610 is configured to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 606 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 606. The baseband circuit 610 is configured to communicate with the application circuit 405 / 505 (see Figure 4 and Figure 5 ) to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuit 606. Baseband circuit 610 may handle various radio control functions.

[0129] The aforementioned circuits and / or control logic components of the baseband circuit 610 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 604A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 604B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 604C, or some other baseband processors 604D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., the sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments, part or all of the functions of the baseband processors 604A-D may be included in a module stored in the memory 604G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 604E. In other embodiments, part or all of the functions of the baseband processors 604A-D may be provided as a hardware accelerator (e.g., FPGA, ASIC, etc.) loaded with an appropriate bitstream or logic block stored in a corresponding memory unit. In various embodiments, the memory 604G may store program code of a real-time OS (RTOS), which, when executed by the CPU 604E (or other baseband processor), enables the CPU 604E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources of the baseband circuit 610, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of RTOS may include: Operating System Embedded (OSE) provided TM , by Mentor Nucleus RTOS provided TM , by Mentor Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Express Provided by ThreadX TM ,Depend on FreeRTOS and REX OS provided by OpenKernel (OK) OKL4 is provided, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the baseband circuit 610 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 604F. The audio DSP 604F includes elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

[0130] In some embodiments, each of the processors 604A-XT104E includes a corresponding memory interface to send data to / receive data from the memory 604G. The baseband circuit 610 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit 610; an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit; Figures 4 to XApplication circuit interface for sending data to / receiving data from the application circuit 405 / 505 of T; Figure 6 RF circuit 606 to send data / receive data from the RF circuit RF circuit interface; for receiving data from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components, Low power consumption components, components, etc.) to send data / receive data from these wireless hardware elements; and a power management interface for sending power or control signals to / receiving power or control signals from the PMIC 525.

[0131] In an alternative embodiment (which may be combined with the above embodiment), the baseband circuit 610 includes one or more digital baseband systems, which are coupled to each other and to the CPU subsystem, the audio subsystem and the interface subsystem via an interconnect subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem may also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed signal baseband subsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may include a bus system, a point-to-point connector, a network on chip (NOC) structure and / or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include a DSP circuit, a buffer memory, a program memory, a voice processing accelerator circuit, a data converter circuit such as an analog-to-digital converter circuit and a digital-to-analog converter circuit, an analog circuit including one or more of an amplifier and a filter, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the baseband circuit 610 may include a protocol processing circuit having one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or the radio frequency circuit (e.g., the radio front end module 615).

[0132] although Figure 6Not shown, but in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 610 includes various processing devices (e.g., a "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuit") to operate one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices to implement PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuit operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, when the baseband circuit 610 and / or the RF circuit 606 are part of a millimeter wave communication circuit or some other suitable cellular communication circuit, the protocol processing circuit may operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities. In a first example, the protocol processing circuit will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, when the baseband circuit 610 and / or the RF circuit 606 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuit may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In a second example, the protocol processing circuit will operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 604G) for storing program code and data for operating protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing program code and performing various operations using data. The baseband circuitry 610 may also support radio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

[0133] The various hardware elements of the baseband circuit 610 discussed herein may be implemented as, for example, a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuit 610 may be appropriately combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 and the RF circuit 606 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system on a chip (SoC) or a system-level package (SiP). In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to the RF circuit 606 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 606). In yet another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 610 and the application circuit 405 / 505 may be implemented together as a separate SoC (e.g., a "multi-chip package") mounted to the same circuit board.

[0134] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 610 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 610 may support communications with E-UTRAN or other WMANs, WLANs, WPANs. Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 610 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0135] RF circuit 606 can communicate with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 606 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 606 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuits for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuit 608 and providing baseband signals to baseband circuit 610. RF circuit 606 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuits for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuit 610 and providing RF output signals for transmission to FEM circuit 608.

[0136] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 606 may include a mixer circuit 606a, an amplifier circuit 606b, and a filter circuit 606c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 606 may include a filter circuit 606c and a mixer circuit 606a. The RF circuit 606 may also include a synthesizer circuit 606d for synthesizing frequencies used by the mixer circuit 606a for the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 608 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 606d. The amplifier circuit 606b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 606c may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 610 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal can be a zero frequency baseband signal, but this is not required.In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path can include a passive mixer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0137] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path can be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 606d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 608. The baseband signal can be provided by baseband circuit 610 and can be filtered by filter circuit 606c.

[0138] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for orthogonal down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image suppression (e.g., Hartley image suppression). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0139] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuit 606 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits, and baseband circuit 610 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuit 606.

[0140] In some dual-mode implementations, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the implementations is not limited in this respect.

[0141] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0142] The synthesizer circuit 606d can be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 606a of the RF circuit 606. In some implementations, the synthesizer circuit 606d can be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0143] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 610 or the application circuit 405 / 505 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 405 / XS205.

[0144] The synthesizer circuit 606d of the RF circuit 606 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry output) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some exemplary embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0145] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 606d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and can be used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be an LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 606 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0146] FEM circuitry 608 may include a receive signal path that 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 circuitry 606 for further processing. FEM circuitry 608 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuitry 606 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 611. In various embodiments, amplification by either the transmit signal path or the receive signal path may be accomplished only in RF circuitry 606, only in FEM circuitry 608, or in both RF circuitry 606 and FEM circuitry 608.

[0147] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 608 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the 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 the RF circuit 606). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 608 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 606), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 611.

[0148] The antenna array 611 includes one or more antenna elements, each of which is configured to convert an electrical signal into a radio wave to travel through the air and convert the received radio wave into an electrical signal. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 610 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which is amplified and transmitted via the antenna elements of the antenna array 611 including one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formed into a variety of arrangements as known and / or discussed herein. The antenna array 611 may include a microstrip antenna or a printed antenna fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 611 may be formed as a patch of metal foil (e.g., a patch antenna) of various shapes, and may be coupled to the RF circuit 606 and / or the FEM circuit 608 using a metal transmission line or the like.

[0149] The processor of the application circuit 405 / XS205 and the processor of the baseband circuit 610 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 610 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 405 / XS205 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a PHY layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0150] Figure 7 Various protocol functions that can be implemented in a wireless communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. Specifically, Figure 7 An arrangement 700 is included to show the interconnection between various protocol layers / entities. Various protocol layers / entities operating in conjunction with 5G / NR system standards and LTE system standards are provided. Figure 7 The following description, but Figure 7 Some or all aspects of the invention may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0151] The protocol layers of arrangement 700 may include one or more of PHY 710, MAC 720, RLC 730, PDCP 740, SDAP 747, RRC 755, and NAS layer 757, in addition to other higher layer functions not shown. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., Figure 7 Items 759, 756, 750, 749, 745, 735, 725 and 715).

[0152] PHY 710 can send and receive physical layer signals 705, which can be received from or sent to one or more other communication devices. Physical layer signals 705 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. PHY 710 may also perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and switching purposes) and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC 755). PHY 710 may also further perform error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of transport channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. In an embodiment, an instance of PHY 710 may process a request from an instance of MAC 720 and provide an indication thereof via one or more PHY-SAP 715. According to some embodiments, the request and indication transmitted via PHY-SAP 715 may include one or more transport channels.

[0153] An instance of MAC 720 may process requests from an instance of RLC 730 and provide indications thereto via one or more MAC-SAPs 725. These requests and indications transmitted via MAC-SAPs 725 may include one or more logical channels. MAC 720 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY 710 via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs delivered from PHY 710 via transport channels to one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0154] An instance of RLC 730 may process requests from an instance of PDCP 740 and provide indications thereto via one or more radio link control service access points (RLC-SAPs) 735. These requests and indications transmitted via RLC-SAPs 735 may include one or more logical channels. RLC 730 may operate in a variety of operating modes, including: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). RLC 730 may perform transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. RLC 730 may also perform resegmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0155] An instance of PDCP 740 may process requests from an instance of RRC 755 and / or an instance of SDAP 747 and provide indications thereto via one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Points (PDCP-SAP) 745. These requests and indications transmitted via PDCP-SAP 745 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 740 may perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform in-order delivery of upper layer PDUs when lower layers are reestablished, eliminate duplication of lower layer SDUs when lower layers are reestablished for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0156] An instance of SDAP 747 may process requests from one or more higher layer protocol entities and provide indications thereto via one or more SDAP-SAPs 749. These requests and indications transmitted via SDAP-SAPs 749 may include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 747 may map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 747 may be configured for a separate PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 110 may control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflective mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, SDAP 747 of UE 101 may monitor the QFI of the DL packets of each DRB, and may apply the same mapping to packets flowing in the UL direction. For DRBs, SDAP 747 of UE 101 may map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of the DRB. To implement reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 310 may mark the DL packets with a QoS flow ID over the Uu interface. The explicit mapping may involve the RRC 755 configuring the SDAP 747 with explicit mapping rules of QoS flows to DRBs, which may be stored and followed by the SDAP 747. In an embodiment, the SDAP 747 may be used only in NR embodiments and may not be used in LTE embodiments.

[0157] The RRC 755 may configure aspects of one or more protocol layers, which may include one or more instances of PHY 710, MAC 720, RLC 730, PDCP 740, and SDAP 747, via one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs). In an embodiment, an instance of the RRC 755 may process requests from one or more NAS entities 757 and provide instructions thereto via one or more RRC-SAPs 756. The main services and functions of the RRC 755 may include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in a MIB or SIB related to NAS), broadcasting of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between the UE 101 and the RAN 110 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. These MIBs and SIBs may include one or more IEs, each of which may include a separate data field or data structure.

[0158] NAS 757 may form the highest layer of the control plane between UE 101 and AMF 321. NAS 757 may support the mobility and session management procedures of UE 101 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 101 and P-GW in the LTE system.

[0159] According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities of the arrangement 700 may be implemented in the UE 101, the RAN node 111, the AMF 321 in the NR embodiment or the MME 221 in the LTE embodiment, the UPF 302 in the NR embodiment or the S-GW 222 and the P-GW 223 in the LTE embodiment, etc., for control plane or user plane communication protocol stacks between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of the UE 101, the gNB 111, the AMF 321, etc. may communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented in or on another device (using the services of corresponding lower layer protocol entities to perform such communication). In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of gNB 111 may host the RRC 755, SDAP 747, and PDCP 740 of the gNB that control operations of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of gNB 111 may each host the RLC 730, MAC 720, and PHY 710 of gNB 111.

[0160] In a first example, the control plane protocol stack may include, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer, NAS 757, RRC 755, PDCP 740, RLC 730, MAC 720, and PHY 710. In this example, an upper layer 760 may be built on top of NAS 757, which includes an IP layer 761, SCTP 762, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 763.

[0161] In an NR implementation, the AP 763 may be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 763 for the NG interface 113 defined between the NG-RAN node 111 and the AMF 321, or the AP 763 may be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 763 for the Xn interface 112 defined between two or more RAN nodes 111.

[0162] The NG-AP 763 may support the functionality of the NG interface 113 and may include an elementary procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the NG-RAN node 111 and the AMF 321. The NG-AP 763 services may include two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the UE 101) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 111 and the AMF 321). These services may include functions including, but not limited to: a paging function for sending a paging request to the NG-RAN node 111 involved in a specific paging area; a UE context management function for allowing the AMF 321 to establish, modify and / or release the UE context in the AMF 321 and the NG-RAN node 111; a mobility function for the UE 101 in ECM-CONNECTED mode, for intra-system HO to support mobility within the NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO to support mobility from / to the EPS system; a NAS signaling transport function for transporting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 101 and the AMF 321; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 321 and the UE 101; an NG interface management function for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors over the NG interface; a warning message sending function for providing a means to transmit a warning message via the NG interface or to cancel an ongoing warning message broadcast; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 101 and the AMF 321; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 321 and the UE 101; a ... 120 A configuration transmission function for requesting and transmitting RAN configuration information (eg, SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 111; and / or other similar functions.

[0163] The XnAP 763 may support the functions of the Xn interface 112 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. The XnAP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the NG RAN 111 (or E-UTRAN 210), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The XnAP global procedures may include procedures that are not related to a specific UE 101, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0164] In an LTE implementation, the AP 763 may be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 763 for the S1 interface 113 defined between the E-UTRAN node 111 and the MME, or the AP 763 may be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 763 for the X2 interface 112 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 111.

[0165] The S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 763 may support the functionality of the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, the S1-AP may include an S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 111 and the MME 221 within the LTE CN 120. The S1-AP 763 services may include two groups: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. The functions performed by these services include, but are not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transmission.

[0166] The X2AP 763 may support the functions of the X2 interface 112 and may include X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. The X2AP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the E-UTRAN 120, such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The X2AP global procedures may include procedures that are not related to a specific UE 101, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indication procedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0167] The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 762 may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). The SCTP 762 may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 111 and the AMF 321 / MME 221 based in part on the IP protocol supported by the IP 761. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 761 may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some embodiments, the IP layer 761 may deliver and transmit PDUs using point-to-point transport. In this regard, the RAN node 111 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0168] In a second example, the user plane protocol stack may include SDAP 747, PDCP 740, RLC 730, MAC 720, and PHY 710 in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer. The user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between UE 101, RAN node 111, and UPF 302 in NR implementation, or communication between S-GW 222 and P-GW 223 in LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 751 may be built on top of SDAP 747 and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer (UDP / IP) 752, a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for a user plane layer (GTP-U) 753, and a user plane PDU layer (UP PDU) 763.

[0169] The transport network layer 754 (also referred to as the "transport layer") may be built on top of the IP transport, and the GTP-U 753 may be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 752 (including the UDP layer and the IP layer) to carry the user plane PDU (UP-PDU). The IP layer (also referred to as the "Internet layer") may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packets, for example, in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats.

[0170] GTP-U 753 may be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. For example, the transmitted user data may be packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6 or PPP formats. UDP / IP 752 may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication of selected data flows. The RAN node 111 and the S-GW 222 may exchange user plane data using the S1-U interface via a protocol stack including the L1 layer (e.g., PHY 710), the L2 layer (e.g., MAC 720, RLC 730, PDCP 740 and / or SDAP 747), the UDP / IP layer 752, and the GRP-U 753. The S-GW 222 and the P-GW 223 may exchange user plane data using the S5 / S8a interface via a protocol stack including the L1 layer, the L2 layer, the UDP / IP layer 752, and the GTP-U 753. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol may support mobility of UE 101 and session management procedures to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 101 and P-GW 223 .

[0171] In addition, despite Figure 7Not shown, but an application layer may exist above the AP 763 and / or transport network layer 754. The application layer may be a layer where a user of the UE 101, RAN node 111, or other network element interacts with a software application, for example, executed by the application circuitry 405 or the application circuitry 505, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for the software application to interact with the communication system (such as the baseband circuitry 610) of the UE 101 or RAN node 111. In some embodiments, the IP layer and / or the application layer may provide functionality that is the same or similar to layers 5 to 7 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, or portions thereof (e.g., OSI layer 7—application layer, OSI layer 6—presentation layer, and OSI layer 5—session layer).

[0172] Figure 8 Components of a core network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. The components of CN 220 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In an embodiment, the components of CN 320 may be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to the components of CN 220. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the above-mentioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 220 may be referred to as a network slice 801, 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 a network sub-slice 802 (e.g., network sub-slice 802 is shown as including P-GW 223 and PCRF 226).

[0173] As used herein, the terms "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance may refer to information identifying a domain, which may be used for traffic detection and routing in different IP domains or in the case of overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance may refer to a set of network function (NF) instances and the resources (e.g., computing, storage, and networking resources) required to deploy a network slice.

[0174] Regarding 5G systems (see e.g. Figure 3), a network slice always includes a RAN part and a CN part. Support for network slicing relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. The network can implement different network slices by scheduling and also by providing different L1 / L2 configurations. If NAS has provided an RRC message, UE 301 provides auxiliary information for network slice selection in an appropriate RRC message. Although the network can support a large number of slices, the UE does not need to support more than 8 slices at the same time.

[0175] The network slice may include the CN 320 control plane and user plane NF, the NG-RAN 310 in the serving PLMN, and the N3IWF function in the serving PLMN. Each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI and / or may have a different SST. The NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by the S-NSSAI. The network slice may differ in terms of supported features and network function optimizations, and / or multiple network slice instances may deliver the same service / feature, but differ for different groups of UE 301 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, each network slice may deliver different committed services and / or may be dedicated to a specific customer or enterprise. In this example, each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI with the same SST but with a different slice differentiator. In addition, a single UE may be served simultaneously by one or more network slice instances via a 5G AN and be associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. In addition, an AMF 321 instance serving a single UE 301 may belong to each network slice instance serving the UE.

[0176] Network slicing in NG-RAN 310 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes differentiated handling of traffic for different network slices that have been pre-configured. 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 enabling slices in terms of NG-RAN functions (e.g., a set of network functions including each slice) depends on the implementation. NG-RAN310 selects the RAN part of the network slice using auxiliary information provided by UE 301 or 5GC 320, which explicitly identifies one or more network slices in the pre-configured network slices in the PLMN. NG-RAN 310 also supports resource management and policy enforcement between slices according to SLA. A single NG-RAN node can support multiple slices, and NG-RAN310 can also appropriately apply appropriate RRM policies for SLA to each supported slice. NG-RAN 310 can also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

[0177] The NG-RAN 310 may also use the UE assistance information to select an AMF 321 during the initial attach, if available. The NG-RAN 310 routes the initial NAS to the AMF 321 using the assistance information. If the NG-RAN 310 cannot select an AMF 321 using the assistance information, or the UE 301 does not provide any such information, the NG-RAN 310 sends the NAS signaling to a default AMF 321, which may be in the AMF 321 pool. For subsequent access, the UE 301 provides a temporary ID assigned to the UE 301 by the 5GC 320 to enable the NG-RAN 310 to route the NAS message to the appropriate AMF 321, as long as the temporary ID is valid. The NG-RAN 310 knows and can reach the AMF 321 associated with the temporary ID. Otherwise, the method for initial attach applies.

[0178] The NG-RAN 310 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 310 resource isolation can be achieved through RRM policies and protection mechanisms that should avoid shared resource shortages in the case where one slice disrupts the service level agreement of another slice. In some embodiments, NG-RAN 310 resources can be fully assigned to a slice. How the NG-RAN 310 supports resource isolation depends on the implementation.

[0179] Some slices may be only partially available in the network. The NG-RAN 310 is aware of slices supported in its neighboring cells that may be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Slice availability may not change within the registration area of ​​the UE. The NG-RAN 310 and 5GC 320 are responsible for handling service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. Granting or denying access to a slice may depend on factors such as support for the slice, availability of resources, and support of the requested service by the NG-RAN 310.

[0180] UE 301 may be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. In the case where UE 301 is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained and for intra-frequency cell reselection, UE 301 attempts to camp on the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities may be used to control the frequency that UE 301 camps on. 5GC 320 will verify that UE 301 has the right to access the network slice. Knowing the specific slice that UE 301 is requesting access to before receiving the Initial Context Setup Request message may allow NG-RAN 310 to apply some temporary / local policies. During the Initial Context Setup, NG-RAN 310 is informed of the slice whose resources are being requested.

[0181] The NFV architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more NFs onto physical resources including a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0182] Fig. 9 900 , according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The system 900 is shown to include a VIM 902 , a NFVI 904 , a VNFM 906 , a VNF 908 , an EM 910 , a NFVO 912 , and a NM 914 .

[0183] The VIM 902 manages resources of the NFVI 904. The NFVI 904 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including hypervisors) for executing the system 900. The VIM 902 may utilize the NFVI 904 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., creation, maintenance, and teardown of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track performance, failures, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0184] The VNFM 906 can manage the VNF 908. The VNF 908 can be used to perform EPC components / functions. The VNFM 906 can manage the life cycle of the VNF 908 and track the performance, failures, and security of the virtual aspects of the VNF 908. The EM 910 can track the performance, failures, and security of the functional aspects of the VNF 908. The tracking data from the VNFM 906 and the EM 910 can include, for example, PM data used by the VIM 902 or the NFVI 904. Both the VNFM 906 and the EM 910 can scale up / down the number of VNFs of the system 900.

[0185] NFVO 912 may coordinate, authorize, release, and engage resources of NFVI 904 in order to provide requested services (e.g., execute EPC functions, components, or slices). NM 914 may provide an end-user functional grouping responsible for network management, which may include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of VNFs may occur via EM 910).

[0186] Fig.10 is a block diagram showing components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and executing any one or more of the methods described herein according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, Fig.10 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1000 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1010, one or more memory / storage devices 1020, and one or more communication resources 1030, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1040. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1002 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1000.

[0187] Processor 1010 may include, for example, processor 1012 and processor 1014. Processor 1010 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0188] The memory / storage device 1020 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1020 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0189] The communication resources 1030 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1004 or one or more databases 1006 via the network 1008. For example, the communication resources 1030 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via USB), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, (or Low power consumption) components, components and other communication components.

[0190] The instructions 1050 may include software, programs, applications, applet, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1010 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1050 may reside completely or partially in at least one of the processors 1010 (e.g., in a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1020, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1050 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 1000 from any combination of the peripheral device 1004 or the database 1006. Therefore, the memory of the processor 1010, the memory / storage device 1020, the peripheral device 1004, and the database 1006 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0191] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes and / or methods described in the following embodiments section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments described below. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments shown in the embodiments section below.

[0192] In NR Rel-15 (see 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.1.0, NR Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 15)), PUCCH format 4 is designed for use in e.g. Fig.11 PUCCHs from up to 4 UEs are multiplexed on the PRB shown.

[0193] In some embodiments, the PUCCH may be block spread by an orthogonal cover code (OCC) in the time domain before DFT spreading to generate a comb structure for PUCCH multiplexing. Based on a spreading factor of 2 or 4 determined by the number of UEs multiplexed in a PRB, different length 12 OCCs may be used for UE multiplexing. The OCCs are based on the number of UEs multiplexed in the PRB. The defined UE multiplexing capabilities are shown in the following table.

[0194] For example, Table 1 includes When PUCCH format 4 orthogonal sequence w n (m):

[0195] n <![CDATA[w n ]]> 0 [+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1] 1 [+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1]

[0196] - Table 1 -

[0197] For example, Table 2 includes When PUCCH format 4 orthogonal sequence wn (m):

[0198] n <![CDATA[w n ]]> 0 [+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1] 1 [+1 +1 +1 -j -j -j -1 -1 -1 +j +j +j] 2 [+1 +1 +1 -1 -1 -1 +1 +1 +1 -1 -1 -1] 3 [+1 +1 +1 +j +j +j -1 -1 -1 -j -j -j]

[0199] -Table 2-

[0200] In some implementations, the PUCCH DM-RS ports of a UE may be multiplexed within the same OFDM symbol, such as Fig.11 As shown in Figure 1, Rel-15 DM-RS uses a base sequence of frequency-domain QPSK modulation with a constant modulus property (see 3GPP TS38.211 v15.1.0, NR Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 15)).

[0201] In some embodiments, the base sequence is selected from a group of 30 CGS sequences of length 12. Sequence group u = (f gh +f ss ) mod 30 and the sequence number v within the group may depend on the higher layer parameter pucch-GroupHopping. In some embodiments, pucch-GroupHopping may be equal to "neither", "enable" or "disable".

[0202] In some implementations, if pucch-GroupHopping is equal to "neither":

[0203] f gh =0

[0204] f ss =n ID mod30

[0205] v=0

[0206] where n ID Given by the high-level parameter hoppingId (if configured), otherwise

[0207] In some implementations, if pucch-GroupHopping is equal to "enable":

[0208]

[0209] f ss =n ID mod30

[0210] v=0

[0211] where the pseudo-random sequence c(i) is defined by clause 5.2.1 and shall be initialized at the beginning of each radio frame, where nID Given by the high-level parameter hoppingId (if configured), otherwise

[0212] In some implementations, if pucch-GroupHopping is equal to "disable":

[0213] f Gh =0

[0214] f ss =n ID mod30

[0215]

[0216] where the pseudo-random sequence c(i) is defined by clause 5.2.1 and shall be initialized at the beginning of each radio frame, where n ID Given by the high-level parameter hoppingId (if configured), otherwise

[0217] In some embodiments, orthogonal DM-RS ports may be generated using cyclic shifts of a selected base sequence according to Table 3 shown below:

[0218]

[0219] - Table 3 -

[0220] Rel-16 NR DM-RS design for PUCCH format 4 with π / 2-BPSK modulation:

[0221] For Rel-16 NR PUCCH, when π / 2-BPSK modulation is configured, the pre-DFT time domain binary sequence from the following Table 4 is used (see Chairman's Notes, 3GPP RAN WG1 NR Ad Hoc 1901, January 2019):

[0222] u b(0),…,b(11) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 5 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 9 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 10 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 11 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 13 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 16 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 17 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 18 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 19 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 20 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 21 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 22 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 23 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 24 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 25 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 26 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 27 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 28 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 29 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1

[0223] - Table 4 -

[0224] In some embodiments, the mapping of the binary sequence b(i) to the π / 2-BPSK sequence d(i) may be defined according to the following equation:

[0225]

[0226] In some embodiments, frequency domain pulse / spectral shaping may be applied after DFT spreading of the π / 2-BPSK modulated DMRS sequence.However, the concept of cyclic shifting for generating orthogonal DMRS ports does not apply to the time domain, since in this case the sequence is a non-constant modulus in the frequency domain.

[0227] In some embodiments, when the PUCCH spreading factor When the length of the time domain OCC is 12, it can be used for the π / 2-BPSK sequence u, which is based on u = (f gh +fssmod 30 is selected to generate orthogonal DM-RS ports as follows:

[0228]

[0229] In some embodiments, the resulting modulation sequence DFT spreading is performed to generate a frequency-domain DM-RS sequence mapped to the subcarriers.

[0230] In some embodiments, the time domain OCC w n It can be derived from Table 5 shown below, where n is the same as the orthogonal sequence index of PUCCH.

[0231] n <![CDATA[w n ]]> 0 [1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1] 1 [1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1]

[0232] -Table 5-

[0233] In some embodiments, the time domain OCC w n It can be derived from Table 6 shown below, where n is the same as the orthogonal sequence index of PUCCH.

[0234] n <![CDATA[w n ]]> 0 [1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1] 1 [1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1]

[0235] -Table 6-

[0236] In some embodiments, the time domain OCC w n It can be derived from Table 7 shown below, where n is the same as the orthogonal sequence index of PUCCH.

[0237] n <![CDATA[w n ]]> 0 [1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1] 1 [1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]

[0238] -Table 7-

[0239] In some embodiments, when the PUCCH spreading factor When the length of the time domain OCC is 12, it can be used for the π / 2-BPSK sequence u, which is based on u = (f gh +fssmod 30 is selected to generate orthogonal DM-RS ports as follows:

[0240]

[0241] In such embodiments, the resulting modulation sequence DFT spreading is performed to generate a frequency-domain DM-RS sequence mapped to the subcarriers.

[0242] In some embodiments, the time domain OCC w n It can be derived from the following Table 8, where n is the same as the orthogonal sequence index of PUCCH.

[0243] n <![CDATA[w n ]]> 0 [1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1] 1 [1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1] 2 [1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1] 3 [1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]

[0244] -Table 8-

[0245] In some embodiments, when And pucch-GroupHopping =

[0246] "neither" OR "enable", based on The two RRC configurations used in To choose two basis sequences For example, PUCCH OCC index n=0, 1 may correspond to the two base sequences u0, u1. The following Table 9 may be used to generate the other two DM-RS ports for OCC indexes 2, 3 based on the time domain OCC on the two base sequences.

[0247]

[0248] -Table 9-

[0249] In some implementations, the time domain OCC may be selected instead according to Table 10 below.

[0250]

[0251] - Table 10 -

[0252] In some implementations, the time domain OCC may be selected instead according to Table 11 below.

[0253]

[0254] - Table 11 -

[0255] Fig.121 is a flow chart of an example of a process 1200 for low PAPR DM-RS port multiplexing for PUCCH. In general, process 1200 may include determining, by a UE, a type of PUCCH format to be used for transmitting uplink control information (1210), and multiplexing DM-RS ports of the UE using a time domain OCC based on a PUCCH format 4 determined by the UE to be used (1220). In some embodiments, an index of the time domain OCC is selected as the PUCCH OCC index.

[0256] In some embodiments, method 1200 may further include determining a number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed. The PUCCH message may include, for example, a control element, one or more information bits, or other signals to be transmitted using the PUCCH. In such embodiments, if it is determined that two UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, the device may perform operations such as block-by-block multiplications, including multiplying two time domain OCC sequences of length 12 by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence in the time domain prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency domain subcarrier grid. In some embodiments, the device is a UE. In some embodiments, the time domain OCC is determined using Table 5, Table 6, or Table 7.

[0257] In some embodiments, process 1200 may further include determining the number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed. In such embodiments, if it is determined that four UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, the device may perform operations such as block-wise multiplications including multiplying one of four orthogonal time domain OCC sequences by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency domain subcarrier grid. In some embodiments, the device is a UE. In some embodiments, the time domain OCC is determined using Table 8.

[0258] Fig.13 13 is a flow chart of an example of a process 1300 for receiving uplink control information from a plurality of UEs. In general, the process 1300 may include receiving, by an access node of a wireless network, data representing a set of multiplexed PUCCH messages from each of a plurality of UEs in a physical resource block (PRB), wherein the multiplexed PUCCH messages are multiplexed using a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) (1310), and storing, by the access node, at least a portion of the data representing the set of multiplexed PUCCH messages from the plurality of UEs for at least a predetermined amount of time (1320). In some embodiments, the OCC is determined according to one of Table 2, Table 3, and Tables 5-10. In some embodiments, the access node is a gNB.

[0259] In some embodiments, the PUCCH message may include, for example, a control element, one or more information bits, or other signals to be transmitted using the PUCCH. This may include, for example, one or more HARQ-ack messages.

[0260] In some embodiments, the predetermined amount of time that at least a portion of data representing a set of multiplexed PUCCH messages is stored by the access node may be a period of time that data representing at least a portion of a set of multiplexed PUCCH messages is cached or buffered by the access node while awaiting decoding. In some embodiments, this may include a period of time that the access node allocates computing resources to perform such decoding of data representing multiplexed PUCCH messages from multiple UEs.

[0261] In some implementations, performing process 1300 by an access node may also include decoding, by an access node of a wireless network, multiplexed PUCCH messages from a plurality of UEs. In some implementations, decoding may include demultiplexing the PUCCH messages.

[0262] Fig.14 14 is a flow chart of an example of a process 1400 for providing uplink control information to an access node. In general, process 1400 may include: determining, by the UE, a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) for a PUCCH message of the UE to multiplex the PUCCH transmission with one or more PUCCH messages from one or more other UEs (1410), and encoding, by the UE, the PUCCH message for transmission by the UE using the OCC (1420). In some embodiments, the encoding may include, for example, generating an orthogonal DM-RS port based on the OCC. In some embodiments, the encoding may include, for example, generating a frequency domain DM-RS sequence based on the orthogonal DM-RS port. In some embodiments, the frequency domain DM-RS sequence is mapped to a subcarrier. In some embodiments, PUCCH messages from one or more other UEs may be multiplexed in the same PRB.

[0263] In some embodiments, the PUCCH message may include, for example, a control element, one or more information bits, or other signals to be transmitted using the PUCCH. This may include, for example, one or more HARQ-ack messages.

[0264] In some embodiments, the OCC is determined using any of Table 2, Table 3, and Tables 5-10. 15.

[0266] Other Implementations

[0267] A number of embodiments have been described. However, it should be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, the logic flows shown in the accompanying drawings do not require the particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired results. In addition, other steps may be provided or steps may be eliminated from the process, and other components may be added to or removed from the system. Therefore, other specific embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A method for low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) port multiplexing for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the method comprising: multiplexing a DM-RS port of a user equipment (UE) based on at least (i) an operation selected from two or more operations based on a number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed by the UE and (ii) a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC), wherein the number of the UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed by the UE is determined based on determining that a PUCCH message sent by the UE will use PUCCH format 4, wherein selecting the operation includes at least one of the following: Based at least on determining that two UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, selecting to block-wise multiply two time-domain OCC sequences of length 12 by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence in the time domain prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid; and Based at least on determining that four UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, one of four orthogonal time-domain OCC sequences is selected to be block-wise multiplied by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: For an orthogonal sequence w from one of the following n , the time domain OCC is determined using the PUCCH OCC index n from {0,1}: {[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1]},{[1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]},{[1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1-1-l]}.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: For an orthogonal sequence w from one of the following n , the time domain OCC is determined using a PUCCH OCC index n from {0, 1, 2, 3}: {[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1],[1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1],[1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]}. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the index of the time domain OCC is selected as a PUCCH OCC index.

5. An apparatus comprising one or more baseband processors configured to perform operations comprising: multiplexing DM-RS ports of a user equipment (UE) based on at least (i) an operation selected from two or more operations based on a number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed by the UE and (ii) a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC), wherein The number of the UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed by the UE is determined based on determining that PUCCH messages sent by the UE are to use PUCCH format 4, wherein selecting the operation comprises at least one of: Based at least on determining that two UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, selecting to block-wise multiply two time-domain OCC sequences of length 12 by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence in the time domain prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid; as well as Based at least on determining that four UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, one of four orthogonal time-domain OCC sequences is selected to be block-wise multiplied by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein: For an orthogonal sequence w from one of the following n , the time domain OCC is determined using the PUCCH OCC index n from {0,1}: {[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1]},{[1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]},{[1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1-1-l]}.

7. The device according to claim 5, wherein: For an orthogonal sequence w from one of the following n , the time domain OCC is determined using a PUCCH OCC index n from {0, 1, 2, 3}: {[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1],[1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1],[1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]}.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the index of the time domain OCC is selected as a PUCCH OCC index.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software including instructions executable by one or more processors that, when so executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including: multiplexing DM-RS ports of a user equipment (UE) based on at least (i) an operation selected from two or more operations based on a number of UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed by the UE and (ii) a time domain orthogonal cover code (OCC), wherein The number of the UE PUCCH format 4 messages to be multiplexed by the UE is determined based on determining that PUCCH messages sent by the UE are to use PUCCH format 4, wherein selecting the operation comprises at least one of: Based at least on determining that two UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, selecting to block-wise multiply two time-domain OCC sequences of length 12 by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence in the time domain prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid; as well as Based at least on determining that four UE PUCCH format 4 messages are to be multiplexed, one of four orthogonal time-domain OCC sequences is selected to be block-wise multiplied by a π / 2-BPSK modulated DM-RS sequence prior to DFT spreading and mapping to a frequency-domain subcarrier grid.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: For an orthogonal sequence w from one of the following n , the time domain OCC is determined using the PUCCH OCC index n from {0,1}: {[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1]},{[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1],[1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-11]},{[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1],[1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1-1-l]}.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: For an orthogonal sequence w from one of the following n , the time domain OCC is determined using a PUCCH OCC index n from {0, 1, 2, 3}: {[1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11],[1-1 1-1 1-1 1-1 1-11-1],[1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1],[1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1 1 1-1-1]}.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein: The index of the time domain OCC is selected as the PUCCHOCC index.

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