Coordinated cellular coverage of mobile base stations

Abstract

The present application relates to apparatuses and components including devices, systems, and methods for providing coordinated cellular coverage by mobile base stations.

Description

Background Technology

[0001] 3GPP networks rely on a large number of geographically distributed base stations to provide cellular coverage over extended areas. User equipment (UEs) can move between areas covered by different base stations. When a UE moves between cells, the source base station can hand over communication to the target base station to provide continuous and uninterrupted service to the UE. 3GPP working groups are investigating technologies related to mobile base stations to enable the operation of New Radio (NR) protocols in various access networks, including non-terrestrial access networks. For example, discussions are underway in at least the Radio Access Network 2 (RAN2) working group. In such access networks, further consideration needs to be given to cellular coverage for handover and coordination. Attached Figure Description

[0002] Figure 1 A network environment according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0003] Figure 2 The cell transfer procedure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0004] Figure 3 A cell handover procedure with overlapping coverage is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0005] Figure 4 A network environment according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0006] Figure 5 A mapping overlay diagram of a network resource promotion plan according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0007] Figure 6 A network environment with a mobile centralized unit is shown according to some implementation schemes.

[0008] Figure 7 The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0009] Figure 8 The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0010] Figure 9 The operational flow / algorithm structure according to some implementation schemes is shown.

[0011] Figure 10 A beamforming circuit according to some embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 11 The device is shown according to some implementation schemes. Detailed Implementation

[0013] The following detailed description relates to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details, such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth for illustrative and non-limiting purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples departing from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0014] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0015] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes: hardware components such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) or memories (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable system-on-a-chip (SoCs)), or digital signal processors (DSPs) configured to provide said functions. In some embodiments, a circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of said functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and program code for performing the functions (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0016] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" means, is part of, or includes the following: a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may also refer to an application processor, baseband processor, central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit, single-core processor, dual-core processor, triple-core processor, quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional procedures).

[0017] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" can refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as buses, I / O interfaces, peripheral component interfaces, network interface cards, etc.

[0018] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to equipment of a remote user that has radio communication capabilities and can describe network resources in a communication network. Furthermore, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can be considered synonymous and can be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Additionally, the term "user equipment" or "UE" can include any type of wireless / wired equipment or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0019] As used herein, the term "computer system" means any type of interconnected electronic device, computer device, or component thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to the various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing resources or network resources.

[0020] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, or physical or virtual components within a specific device, such as computer equipment, mechanical equipment, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU utilization, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or utilization, power supply, input / output operations, port or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory utilization, storage, network, databases and applications, units of workload, etc. "Hardware resource" can refer to computing, storage, or networking resources provided by physical hardware components. "Virtualized resource" can refer to computing, storage, or networking resources provided by virtualization infrastructure to applications, devices, systems, etc. The terms "network resource" or "communication resource" can refer to resources that computer equipment / systems can access via a communication network. The term "system resource" can refer to any kind of shared entity providing services and can include computing or network resources. System resources can be considered as a coherent set of functions, network data objects, or services accessible through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are clearly identifiable.

[0021] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent with "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," or any other similar term indicating a path or medium through which data is transmitted. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices used for transmitting and receiving information.

[0022] As used in this article, the terms "instantiate" and "instantiate" refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to the concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0023] The term "connection" can mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0024] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as networked computers, network hardware, network equipment, network nodes, virtualized network functions, etc.

[0025] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual content of an information element, or the data element that contains that content. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0026] A typical 3GPP network is constructed under the assumption that base stations are deployed in a fixed manner to provide cellular coverage at fixed locations. Generally, UE mobility and mobility management procedures are based on the fixed cell deployment assumption. In some deployments with mobile base stations, this assumption still holds, and the network can handle this assumption as the UE becomes a mobile entity. If a mobile base station is to provide a radio access cell, the UE will detect a degraded signal quality as the mobile base station moves away from the UE. The UE will then treat this as a UE mobility operation and reselect a new cell in the location it has moved to. To do this, the UE will need to read the synchronization / reference signals and system information provided by the new cell, reconfigure itself based on the new cell to read the paging channel, and restart serving / neighboring cell measurements as needed. In some cases, if the new cell comes from a different registration area, the UE may need to trigger a tracking area update. This can lead to a large number of UEs attempting to update cells simultaneously, causing unnecessary signaling overload and large delays. For UEs in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected mode, handover may be required, which may involve signaling with both the departing and arriving base stations. This could also be a source of signaling delays, especially when the mobile base station is a considerable distance from the UE.

[0027] To address these challenges associated with radio access cells provided by mobile stations, various implementations describe techniques for utilizing mobile base stations to provide fixed radio access cells.

[0028] Figure 1 A network environment 100 according to some implementation schemes is shown. The network environment 100 may include UE 104, UE 106, mobile base station (BS) 108 and mobile BS 112.

[0029] Mobile BS 108 / 112 can be a base station configured to provide radio access to a geographical location near the mobile BS (or "serving cell"). Mobile BS 108 / 112 can be a terrestrial or non-terrestrial base station capable of moving relative to a geographical location (typically along a fixed or predetermined route). For example, mobile BS 108 / 112 can be provided by vehicles, trains, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, satellites of various altitude classifications (e.g., low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, or high Earth orbit), etc.

[0030] UE 104 / 106 is described as a mobile phone. However, UE 104 / 106 can be any type of user equipment, such as a computer, tablet computer, industrial wireless sensor, video surveillance / monitoring equipment, wearable device, vehicle, vehicle equipped with wireless connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.

[0031] Mobile BS 108 / 112 can be configured to provide a fixed serving cell at a designated geographic location. For example, Mobile BS 108 may initially provide serving cell 110 for geographic location 122, which covers both UE 104 and 106. As Mobile BS 108 moves away from geographic location 122, Mobile BS 112 moves toward geographic location 122, and Mobile BS 112 may take over the allocation of the same serving cell 110. To provide the same serving cell 110, Mobile BS 112 may transmit appropriate system information (SI) and broadcast information for the cell, and may take over communications to / from UE 104 / 106. The SI / broadcast information may include, for example, synchronization signals and Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks (SSBs), which are transmitted to provide, for example, Physical Cell Identity and Master Information Block (MIB); and other System Information Blocks (SIBs), which are transmitted in the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). In this way, the arriving base station can seamlessly take over the identity and responsibilities of the departing base station. In some implementations, the relocation of serving cell 110 from mobile BS 108 to mobile BS 112 can be transparent to UEs 104 / 106. UEs 104 / 106 may consider the cell coverage fixed and may not be aware that it is now being provided by a different mobile BS. Because this relocation is transparent to UEs 104 / 106, they may not incur any signaling delays due to the required UE communication with the source / target base stations during traditional handover.

[0032] Serving cell 110 can provide UE 104 / 106 with an air interface compatible with 3GPP New Radio (NR) or 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) access technologies. Mobile BS 108 / 112 can then communicate with core network 114, which can be, for example, a 3GPP fifth-generation (5G) core network (5GC). Mobile BS 108 / 112 can be referred to as a radio access node, an ng-eNB (which provides LTE access network and connects to 5GC), a gNB (which provides NR access network and connects to 5GC), or an access node utilizing sixth-generation (6G) and more advanced technologies.

[0033] Mobile BS 108 / 112 can communicate with UE 104 / 106 via the Uu interface, communicate with each other via the Xn interface, and communicate with the core network 114 via the Next Generation (NG) interface. In some implementations, mobile BS 108 / 112 may be coupled to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 116 of the core network 114 via the NG Control (NG-C) interface, and coupled to the User Plane Function (UPF) 118 of the core network 114 via the NG Subscriber (NG-U) interface.

[0034] The NG-C interface can use the Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to transfer signaling messages between mobile BS 108 / 112 and AMF 116, which can be a control plane function providing registration management, connection management, reachability management, and mobility management services. Registration management allows the UE to register and deregister with the 5G system. During registration, a UE context can be created within core network 114. The UE context can be a set of parameters that identify and characterize the UE. The UE context may include UE identity information, UE capability information, access and mobility information, or Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session information. Connection management can be used to establish and release control plane signaling connections between the UE and AMF 116. Establishing a control plane signaling connection moves the UE from Connection Management (CM) idle to CM connected. Reachability management allows the UE to be located and paged when mobility is expected to terminate the connection. Mobility management can be used to maintain the UE's location information within the network.

[0035] In some implementations, AMF 116 may include a Base Station Tracking Function (BSTF) 120. BSTF 120 may be programmed with routing information for each mobile base station, such as mobile BS 108 / 112. The routing information enables BSTF 120 to determine the location of mobile BS 108 / 112 at a specific time. This information can be used to provide mobile BS 108 / 112 with relevant information about neighboring base stations, upcoming geographic locations, and relevant cell information, etc. In some implementations, this reduces the amount of information required to directly exchange between mobile BS 108 / 112 via the Xn interface when mobile BS 108 / 112 is transferring cell dispatching responsibilities.

[0036] The UPF 118 enables the routing and forwarding of user plane packets between the mobile BS 108 / 112 and external networks. The mobile BS 108 / 112 can transmit uplink packets to the UPF 118 via a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) tunnel. The UPF 118 can remove packet headers and forward packets to the external data network. The UPF 118 can map downlink packets arriving from the external data network to a specific Quality of Service (QoS) stream belonging to a specific PDU session before forwarding them to the mobile BS 108 / 112.

[0037] The Xn interface between Mobile BS 108 and Mobile BS 112 may include a control plane interface (Xn-C) for transferring signaling messages between adjacent base stations and a user plane interface (Xn-U) for transferring data between adjacent base stations. Mobile BS 108 / 112 can use the Xn interface for basic mobility procedures, dual connectivity procedures, and global procedures. Basic mobility procedures include, but are not limited to, UE handover preparation and control, radio access network paging, receiving UE context, and sequence number (SN) state transitions. Dual connectivity procedures involve adding, removing, and managing primary and secondary nodes for dual connectivity operations. Global procedures include, but are not limited to, Xn setup and removal, cell activation, and handover reporting.

[0038] In typical operation, the Xn interface is established via an Automatic Neighborhood Relationship (ANR) procedure, in which the UE discovers the identities of the serving cell's neighboring cells. The serving cell then sends a query to the AMF for the appropriate IP address of the neighboring base stations. The AMF then queries the neighboring nodes to obtain the IP address, which is then transmitted back to the source base station. However, in some implementations described herein, the UE may be unaware of the two different base stations, and UE procedures relying on ANR may be impossible. Therefore, alternative methods can be used to establish the Xn interface. For example, in some implementations, the BSTF 120 may provide information (such as IP addresses) to mobile BS 108 and mobile BS 112 to facilitate the establishment of the Xn interface.

[0039] To take over the allocation of cell 110, mobile BS 112 may require various status information relative to cell 110 and the status of the UE currently being served by cell 110. In some implementations, the operating state or mode of UE 104 / 106 may affect the type of information that mobile BS 112 needs to obtain. For example, consider UE 104 in RRC connected mode during a handover, while UE 106 is in RRC idle mode. The connected UE 104 may be involved in active communication with mobile BS 108 when the cell allocation responsibility is transferred to mobile BS 112. Therefore, mobile BS 108 may provide UE-level information to mobile BS 112 to allow mobile BS 112 to take over the communication. UE-level information may include status information such as, but not limited to, allocated uplink and downlink resources, the status of ongoing communications (e.g., Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedures, transmit / receive buffers, paging / random access / mobility procedures, etc.), and so on.

[0040] In some implementations, concepts related to fixed deployment of the serving cell can be abstracted to other levels. For example, in some implementations, the mobile BS 108 / 110 can provide a fixed deployment configuration of the registration / tracking / location area to facilitate the accessibility / mobility management procedures of the AMF 116.

[0041] Figure 2 A cell handover procedure 200 according to some embodiments is illustrated. In this embodiment, mobile BS 108 is transferring to a non-serving cell 110 and may be referred to as source mobile BS 108; mobile BS 112 is transferring to a serving cell 110 and may be referred to as target mobile BS 112; UE 104 is in RRC connected mode and may be referred to as connected UE 104; and UE 106 is in RRC idle mode and may be referred to as idle UE 106.

[0042] At 204, serving cell 110 may be provided by source mobile BS 108. Providing service to serving cell 110 may include transmitting an SSB and other information that will allow a UE to detect and associate with serving cell 110. Providing service to serving cell 110 may also include participating in active communications with connected UEs (such as connected UE 104). Active communications may include: transmitting downlink data and system information on the PDSCH, transmitting control information on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), receiving uplink data on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and receiving uplink control information on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). Participating in active communications may also include transmitting a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) to connected UE 104 at 208. The CSI-RS may be a multi-purpose downlink transmission used to facilitate channel state information reporting, beam management, connection mode mobility, radio link failure detection, beam failure detection and recovery, and fine-tuning of time and frequency synchronization.

[0043] At 212, the source mobile BS 108 can detect a transfer event and determine the cell assignment responsibility for the transfer. The transfer event may be based on the source mobile BS 108 leaving the vicinity of geographic location 122. In some embodiments, the direction of travel and speed of the source mobile BS 108 can be used to determine proximity to geographic location 122. In other embodiments, positioning circuitry (e.g., Figure 11The positioning circuit 1118 can be used to determine the location of the source mobile BS 108, which can then be compared with the geographic location 122. When the source mobile BS 108 determines that its distance from the geographic location 122 is higher than a predetermined threshold distance, the source mobile BS 108 can make a transfer decision 212. In other embodiments, the transfer event 212 may be based on signaling from the core network (e.g., BSTF 120) or other control nodes.

[0044] At 216, the source mobile BS 108 can transmit a handover request to the target mobile BS 112 via the Xn interface. The handover request may include cell handover information that provides the target mobile BS 112 with sufficient information to take over active communications, as well as the transmission of the SSB and other information that allows the UE to detect and associate with the serving cell 110.

[0045] Cell handover information may include cell-level information that allows the target mobile BS to provide SI / broadcast information. Cell-level information may include, for example, the physical cell identity, the identity of resources used for cell-level transmission, or any other cell-level information not specifically associated with a particular UE. In some implementations, some or all of the cell-level information may be provided to the target mobile BS 112 in an alternative manner. For example, the target mobile BS 112 may be pre-programmed with cell-level information so that it knows which identities it will assume at a specific location at a specific time. Since frequent changes to cell-level information may not be expected, the cell-level information may be pre-programmed to each mobile BS to be used based on the location / time of the mobile BS in the vicinity of geographic location 122.

[0046] In some implementations, some or all of the cell-level information from the BSTF 120 may be provided to the target mobile BS 112. This information may be provided in a static, semi-static, periodic, or event-driven (e.g., request-driven) manner.

[0047] Cell handover information may also include UE-level information for each connected UE. UE-level information provides the target mobile BS112 with information about ongoing communication sessions to be relocated during handover. UE-level information may include configuration information that the target mobile BS112 can use to determine the time / frequency resources available for the UE to transmit / receive control information / data. UE-level information may also include any other information specific to a particular UE.

[0048] In some implementations, UE-level information may include a globally unique AMF identity to provide the target mobile BS 112 with the identity of the AMF of UE 104 used for the servicing connection. UE-level information may also include the UE context of UE 104 used for the connection. The UE context may include, for example: a signaling reference associated with the NG-C UE, which allows the target mobile BS 112 to resolve the connection when sending a path handover request to AMF 116 at 228; a signaling transport network layer (TNL) associated address on the source NG-C side, which provides an IP address for the signaling connection with AMF 116; UE security capabilities; access layer security information; an index of radio access technology / frequency selection priorities; the UE aggregated maximum bit rate; a list of PDU session resources to be established to provide IP addresses and transmit gap period-user (TGP-U) tunnel endpoint identifiers (TEIDs) for uplink data transmission toward UPF 118, and specify the PDU session and associated QoS flow set; an RRC context with a handover preparation information message; location reporting information; or a mobility restriction list.

[0049] In some implementations, the UE-level information may also include an SN state transition message for providing the target mobile BS 112 with information about the sequence number status at the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. The SN state transition message may include an uplink count value specifying the sequence number of the first missing uplink Serving Data Unit (SDU), a downlink count value specifying the next sequence number to be assigned to the downlink SDU, and a reception status of the uplink PDCP SDU indicating which uplink PDCPSDUs have been received.

[0050] In some implementations, UE-level information may also include downlink data received by the source mobile BS 108 but to be transmitted by the target mobile BS 112 to the connected UE 104 when the cell is provided.

[0051] In some implementations, UE-level information may not include the context of an idle UE, such as idle UE 106. Given that idle UE 104 does not actively communicate with the source mobile BS 108 during a transfer, the source mobile BS 108 may not have its context information or may not even be aware that idle UE 106 is pre-occupied in geographic location 122. However, in some implementations, the core network 114 may have information about the general tracking area of ​​idle UE 106 to facilitate paging in cases where a network-initiated connection is desired. In cases where idle UE 106 may wish to initiate a connection, it may detect system information in the SSB transmitted by the target mobile BS 112, participate in a random access procedure, and perform an RRC setup operation to transition from RRC idle mode to RRC connected mode.

[0052] After the target mobile BS 112 receives the cell handover information, it may provide the cell at 220. Providing the cell at 220 may be similar to what has been described above in relation to providing the cell at 204, including, for example, the transmission of CSI-RS for UE104 for connection at 224.

[0053] In some implementations, the target mobile BS 112 may transmit a path handover request 228 to the AMF 116 to request the UPF 118 to modify the bearer path so that downlink data is directed to mobile BS 112 instead of mobile BS 108. The AMF 116 may transmit the path handover request content to the Session Management Function (SMF) responsible for managing the UPF 118. The SMF may send a modify bearer request to the UPF 118, which responds with a modify bearer response, the content of which is relayed to the AMF 110. The AMF 110 may then provide a path handover request confirmation message to the target mobile BS 112 to confirm that the connection has been moved to the target mobile BS 112. In some implementations, the target mobile BS 112 may transmit a context release message 236 to the source mobile BS 108 to trigger the source mobile BS 108 to release its resources previously used for the connection.

[0054] In some implementations, in addition to accepting the cell identity from the perspective of the access network, the target mobile BS 112 may also take over the cell identity from the perspective of the core network. For example, the target mobile BS 112 may assume an identity (e.g., an IP address) associated with serving cell 110 / geographic location 120 and used for the purpose of communicating with the core network (including AMF 116 and UPF 118). In this case, the transfer from mobile BS 108 to mobile BS 112 may be at least partially transparent to the core network 114 and may not require a path handover request / acknowledgment.

[0055] In some implementations, AMF 116 can know in advance the schedules of when different mobile BSs will provide specific serving cells. Therefore, signaling requesting path updates between mobile BSs 108 / 112 and the core network 114 can be reduced or eliminated.

[0056] In some implementations, beam adjustment or refinement procedures may be desired after the target mobile BS 112 takes over cell 110. For example, the transmit / receive beam used to communicate with the source mobile BS 108 may not be the most desirable for communication with the target mobile BS 112. Therefore, the connected UE 104 may use CSI-RS 224 or other beam management signals transmitted by the target mobile BS 112 to enter the beam refinement / adjustment period. When the mobile BS 108 / 112 is at a considerable distance from the connected UE 104, the effect of the change in communication direction is negligible. For example, when the mobile BS 108 / 112 is implemented in a satellite facility, the azimuth angle from the Earth's surface to the mobile BS 108 / 112 can be substantially the same.

[0057] Figure 3 A cell handover procedure 300 according to some implementation schemes is shown. The operation and messages of the cell handover procedure 300 can be similar to those described above relative to... Figure 2 The cell transfer procedure 200 is described with similarly named operations and messages. However, compared to cell transfer procedure 200, cell transfer procedure 300 may include overlapping dispatching of serving cell 110 by source mobile BS 108 and destination mobile BS 112 over a period of time.

[0058] Specifically, after the source mobile BS 108 transmits cell handover information to the target mobile BS 112 at point 316, the source mobile BS 108 can continue to serve cell 110, including, for example, transmitting CSI-RS at point 308. At this time, the serving cell 110 can also be provided by the target mobile BS 112.

[0059] The overlapping allocation of serving cell 110 by both source mobile BS 108 and destination mobile BS 112 can be similar to single-frequency network operation or joint transmission operation of multiple transmit-receive points (TRPs). In either case, similar to the overlapping allocation of serving cell 100, multiple base stations / TRPs use the same resources to transmit the same signal.

[0060] The amount of time for overlapping dispatch of serving cell 112 may vary depending on the specific implementation scheme. For example, in some implementation schemes, the amount of time may be based on the travel speed of mobile BS 108 / 112, the distance between mobile BS 108 / 112, cell density, etc.

[0061] Figure 4A network environment 400 according to some embodiments is illustrated. Similar to that described above with respect to network environment 100, network environment 400 may include mobile BS 108 and mobile BS 112. In this embodiment, each of the mobile BSs 108 / 112 may utilize beamforming techniques to provide multiple serving cells at a given time. For example, mobile BS 108 may utilize its first beam to provide a first serving cell 404 at a first geographic location 408 where UE 412 is located. Simultaneously, mobile BS 108 may also utilize its second beam to provide a second serving cell 416 at a second geographic location 420 where UE 424 is located. Mobile BS 112 may also simultaneously utilize its first beam with mobile BS 108 to provide the second serving cell 416 at the second geographic location 420. Therefore, serving cell 416 may be provided by the two mobile BSs 108 / 112 in an overlapping manner, as described above with respect to network environment 100. Figure 3 As described, Mobile BS 112 can also utilize its second beam to provide a third serving cell 428 at a third geographic location 432 where UE 436 exists.

[0062] When mobile BS 108 stops providing cell 416 at geographic location 420, it can use its second beam to provide cell in the direction in which mobile BS 108 is traveling.

[0063] In this way, overlapping serving cell assignment can provide some flexibility in the timing of handover transitions from one mobile BS to the next. Furthermore, overlapping coverage can be provided even when mobile BS 108 / 112 is furthest from the geographic area. Therefore, overlapping coverage can lead to a significant improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to prevent signal degradation experienced by the UE.

[0064] Figure 5A mapping overlay diagram 500 facilitating network resource planning according to some implementation schemes is shown. As discussed above, the paths and speeds of mobile base stations 108 / 112 are known in advance. Therefore, it is possible to determine which cells are in the paths of a particular mobile base station. As shown in the mapping overlay diagram 500, both mobile BS 108 and mobile BS 112 can follow similar paths through cells 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. In some implementations, the trajectories of the mobile base stations can rely on pre-provisioning of data to facilitate serving cell handover as discussed herein. For example, in this implementation, the two mobile BSs 108 / 112 can be pre-provisioned with cell-level information for cells 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This can reduce or eliminate the amount of cell-level handover information transmitted between mobile BSs 108 / 112 via the Xn interface during a particular cell handover. In some implementations, the pre-provisioning of cell-level data can be performed by BSTF 120. Alternatively, some or all of the cell-level data in the cell-level data can be pre-configured in the memory / storage device of the mobile BS 108 / 112, in which case configuration signaling can be reduced or eliminated.

[0065] In some implementations, the routing employed by the mobile base station can be used to facilitate other network operations. For example, one or more components of the network environment can use the routing information for location, radio link management, carrier aggregation coverage, or multi-user identity module operation. For instance, if the mobile base station or the UE (with relevant information) determines that both the mobile base station and the UE are traveling in the same direction, it may be advantageous for the mobile base station to retain UE state information given the high probability that the UE will travel to a subsequent serving cell provided by the mobile BS. Although embodiments of this disclosure describe the mobility / interchangeability of the mobile base station as transparent to the UE, in some implementations at least some knowledge of this information may be provided to the UE.

[0066] Figure 6 A network environment 600 according to some implementation schemes is shown. Network environment 600 may rely on a centralized unit (CU) – distributed unit (DU) split base station architecture. Specifically, network environment 600 may include mobile BS CU 604 / 608 and BS DU 612.

[0067] The mobile BS CU 604 / 608 provides upper layers of the communication protocol stack, including, for example, the RRC layer, the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer, and the PDCP layer. The RRC layer provides connection establishment and release functions, broadcasting of system information, radio bearer establishment, reconfiguration and release, mobility, and paging functions. The SDAP layer maps Quality of Service (QoS) streams to data radio bearers and marks QoS stream identifiers in both downlink and uplink packets. The PDCP layer controls the transfer of user / control plane data, header compression, encryption, and integrity protection.

[0068] The BS DU 612 provides lower layers of the communication protocol stack, including, for example, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and Physical (PHY) layer. The RLC layer can transfer upper-layer protocol data units in acknowledged, unacknowledged, or transparent modes. The RLC layer can manage RLC service data units and protocol data units separately for each of these modes to provide error detection and recovery. The MAC layer generates transport blocks from logical channel data received from the RLC layer, performs error correction via HARQ, and performs various control functions related to activating / deactivating secondary cells, triggering semi-persistent scheduled transmissions, reporting buffer status, and power margins. The PHY layer provides physical layer processing and transmission and reception across the air interface. The PHY layer can add cyclic redundancy check bits to the transport blocks at the transmitter to allow error detection at the receiver. The PHY layer can also perform channel coding, interleaving, and modulation to efficiently transmit / receive information across the air interface.

[0069] BS DU 612 provides the Uu air interface of service cell 610 for UE 104 / 106 at geographic location 622. BSDU 612 can be a fixed or mobile device. Mobile BS CU 604 / 608 can connect to BS DU 612 via the F1 interface, which can be used to transfer both control plane signaling and user plane data. Mobile BS CU 604 / 608 can be coupled to each other via the Xn interface and to the core network 114 via the Ng interface, as described above relative to... Figure 1 As described.

[0070] Mobile BS CU 604 may initially be coupled to BS DU 612 to provide higher-level functions for serving cell 610. As Mobile BS CU 604 moves away from BS DU 612 (and geographic location 622), it may transfer higher-level cell dispatching responsibilities to Mobile BS CU 608. Mobile BS CU 604 may provide cell handover information to Mobile BS CU 608 to facilitate the transfer of higher-level cell dispatching responsibilities. In some implementations, it may be necessary to refer to the above relative to... Figure 2A subset of the information provided is delivered to the mobile BS CU 608. For example, the BS DU 612 may include information required to provide SI / broadcast information to facilitate access and discovery of the serving cell 610, and may also include lower-level UE state information (e.g., relative to the HARQ procedure). Therefore, this information may not need to be provided to the incoming mobile BS CU 608. Instead, cell handover information transmitted via the Xn interface can be focused on higher-level functions applicable to connected UEs.

[0071] The BS DU 612 has more hardware resources than a typical UE in terms of processing power, antenna array size, and number. Therefore, in some implementations, the signal between the BS DU 612 and the mobile BS CU 604 / 608 may be able to cross greater distances. This facilitates deployments that provide the same amount of coverage using fewer mobile units.

[0072] Figure 7 It may include an operation flow / algorithm structure 700 according to some implementation schemes. The operation flow / algorithm structure 700 may be executed or implemented by a base station such as, for example, a mobile BS 108 / 112, a mobile BS CU 604 / 608, or a device 1100 or its components such as a baseband processor 1104A.

[0073] The operation flow / algorithm structure 700 may include, at 704, determining cell handover information related to a geographic area. The cell handover information may be information related to the serving cell for the geographic area. The cell handover information may include both cell-level information and UE-level information. In some implementations, a first portion of the cell handover information may be received from a core network device (e.g., AMF 116 or BSTF 120). The first portion may include cell-level information or other relatively stable and pre-provided information. In some implementations, a second portion of the cell handover information may be received from another mobile BS via the Xn interface. For example, the second portion may be provided by the source mobile BS that is transitioning out of responsibility for providing the serving cell. The second portion may include UE-level information or other relatively dynamic information that conveys the current state of the serving cell during the serving cell handover.

[0074] The operation flow / algorithm structure 700 may further include, at 708, determining that the mobile base station is close to a geographical location for a certain period of time. The proximity to the geographical location can be defined differently for different implementation schemes. Generally, proximity can be defined as the distance over which the mobile BS can provide sufficient signaling via an appropriate air interface (e.g., Uu or F1 interface).

[0075] In some implementations, a mobile base station may determine its proximity to a geographic location based on location data corresponding to both the geographic location and the base station itself. In some implementations, a mobile base station may use routing information to determine its location, which may be pre-programmed into the mobile base station or provided by network elements such as, for example, AMF 116 or BSTF 120. Additionally / alternatively, the mobile base station may utilize, for example, routing information... Figure 11 The positioning circuit 1118 is used to determine its position.

[0076] In some implementation schemes (such as relative to) Figure 6 In the described embodiments, the mobile base station (BS) may rely on signaling with a fixed device (e.g., BS DU 612) at a geographical location to determine proximity. For example, the mobile BS may determine its proximity to a geographical location based on measurements of signals transmitted to or received from the fixed device. For instance, if the measurements provide a signal strength exceeding a predetermined threshold, the mobile base station may determine that it is close to a geographical location; however, if the measurements provide a signal strength below the predetermined threshold, the mobile base station may determine that it is far from a geographical location.

[0077] In some implementations, mobile base stations can determine their proximity to a geographical location for a specific period of time based on scheduling information. For example, a mobile base station can be scheduled to be located near a specific geographical location for a certain period of time. This information can be pre-programmed at the mobile base station or provided initially or as an update from network elements such as, for example, AMF 116 or BSTF 120.

[0078] The operation procedure / algorithm structure 700 may further include: at 712, providing a serving cell at a geographical location during a certain time period. Upon receiving desired cell handover information, the mobile base station may assume the responsibility of providing the serving cell. This may include transmitting SI / broadcast information to convey the presence and identity of the serving cell, and transmitting / receiving downlink / uplink communications with the connected UE.

[0079] Figure 8 It may include an operation flow / algorithm structure 800 according to some implementation schemes. The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may be executed or implemented by a base station such as, for example, a mobile BS 108 / 112, a mobile BS CU 604 / 608, or a device 1100 or its components such as a baseband processor 1104A.

[0080] The operation process / algorithm structure 800 may include: at 804, using one or more transmit / receive beams to provide a service cell at a geographical location. Providing a service cell can be similar to the above description relative to... Figure 7 As described in operation 712 and elsewhere.

[0081] In some implementations, a mobile base station can simultaneously provide multiple serving cells using various transmit / receive beams. These serving cells can be aligned with the direction of travel of the mobile base station. For example, one serving cell may be located in front of the mobile base station and another serving cell may be located behind the mobile base station.

[0082] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may further include, at 808, detecting a transfer event. In some implementations, the transfer event may be a determination that the distance from the mobile BS to the geographic location exceeds a predetermined threshold. For example, the mobile BS is no longer approaching the geographic location. This can be similar to the above description relative to... Figure 7 Operation 708 and elsewhere are performed as described. In other embodiments, a transfer event can be a determination that the mobile BS cannot provide sufficient signaling or coverage for the serving cell. In yet another embodiment, the transfer event can be based on scheduling information. For example, the expiration of a predetermined time period for a mobile base station to provide service to a serving cell can constitute a signaling event.

[0083] The operation process / algorithm structure 800 may further include: at 812, transmitting cell handover information to the target mobile base station to transfer the allocation of the serving cell to the target mobile base station. Cell handover information can be transmitted to the target mobile base station via the Xn interface.

[0084] In some implementations, the identifier of the target mobile station can be provided to the mobile base station from network elements such as, for example, AMF 116 or BSTF 120. The routing of all mobile base stations can be predefined, discoverable, or otherwise known to entities in the core network. Therefore, the core network can provide the mobile base station with information about which other mobile base station will take over the service of a particular serving cell. In other implementations, the mobile base station can participate in a peer discovery process to identify neighboring mobile base stations.

[0085] Figure 9 It may include an operational flow / algorithm structure 900 according to some implementation schemes. The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may be executed or implemented by network elements such as, for example, AMF 116, BSTF 120, or device 1100 or its components such as baseband processor 1104A.

[0086] The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may include, at 904, cell handover information identifying the serving cell associated with a geographic region. The device may include this information in a relational database that associates geographic regions with serving cells according to a coordinated network plan. This association may be relatively static but may be updated periodically during network optimization operations.

[0087] The operation process / algorithm structure 900 may further include: at 908, determining that the mobile base station is located near a geographic area. The device may include routing information for each mobile base station. The device can use this routing information to overlay a mapping map identifying various serving cells / geographic locations. In this way, the device can determine which serving cells should be provided by a specific mobile base station.

[0088] The operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may further include: at 912, transmitting cell handover information to the mobile base station. The cell handover information may correspond to one or more serving cells to be provided by the mobile base station in the future. Furthermore, the cell handover information may include cell-level information and optionally UE-level information.

[0089] Figure 10 A beamforming circuit 1000 according to some embodiments is shown. The beamforming circuit 1000 may include a first antenna panel (i.e., panel 1 1004) and a second antenna panel (i.e., panel 2 1008). Each antenna panel may include multiple antenna elements. Other embodiments may include other numbers of antenna panels.

[0090] The digital beamforming (BF) component 1028 can be derived from, for example, a baseband processor (such as, for example...) Figure 11 The baseband processor 1104A receives the input baseband (BB) signal. The digital BF component 1028 can rely on complex weights to precode the BB signal and provide beamformed BB signals to the parallel radio frequency (RF) chains 1020 / 1024.

[0091] Each RF chain 1020 / 1024 may include a digital-to-analog converter that converts the BB signal into the analog domain; a mixer that mixes the baseband signal into an RF signal; and a power amplifier that amplifies the RF signal for transmission.

[0092] RF signals can be provided to analog beamforming components 1012 / 1016, which can further apply beamforming by providing a phase shift in the analog domain. The RF signals can then be provided to antenna panels 1004 / 1008 for transmission.

[0093] In some implementations, beamforming may be performed only in the digital domain or only in the analog domain, instead of the hybrid beamforming shown herein.

[0094] In various implementations, control circuitry residing in the baseband processor can provide BF weights to the analog / digital BF components to provide a transmission beam at the corresponding antenna panel. These BF weights can be determined by the control circuitry to provide directional allocation of the serving cell as described herein. In some implementations, the BF components and antenna panels can operate together to provide a dynamic phased array capable of guiding the beam in a desired direction.

[0095] Figure 11 Device 1100 according to some embodiments is shown. Base station 1100 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with mobile base station 118 / 112; mobile BS CU 604 / 608; BS DU 612; AMF 116; or BSTF 120.

[0096] Base station 1100 may include processor 1104, RF interface circuitry 1108, core network (CN) interface circuitry 1112, memory / storage device circuitry 1116, and positioning circuitry 1118. Components of device 1100 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of integrated circuits, discrete electronic devices or other modules, logic components, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. Figure 11 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of device 1100. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other specific embodiments.

[0097] The components of base station 1100 can be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1128, which can represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, optical connector, etc., allowing various circuit components (on common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with each other.

[0098] Processor 1104 may include processor circuitry, such as, for example, baseband processor circuitry (BB) 1104A, central processing unit circuitry (CPU) 1104B, and graphics processing unit circuitry (GPU) 1104C. Processor 1104 may include any type of circuitry or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from memory / storage device 1116) to cause device 1100 to perform the operations described herein.

[0099] In some implementations, the baseband processor circuit 1104A can access the communication protocol stack 1110 in the memory / storage device 1116 to communicate over a 3GPP-compliant network. Generally, the baseband processor circuit 1104A can access the communication protocol stack to perform user plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, and PDU layers; and control plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layers. In some implementations, PHY layer operation may additionally / optionally be performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1108.

[0100] The baseband processor circuit 1104A can generate or process baseband signals or waveforms carrying information in a 3GPP-compliant network. In some implementations, the waveforms used for NR can be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0101] The baseband processor circuit 1104A can also access cell handover information 1114 from the memory / storage device 1116 to identify the information required to assume the responsibility of allocating cells at a specific geographic location.

[0102] The memory / storage device 1116 may include any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that can be distributed throughout the device 1100. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage devices 1116 may be located on the processor 1104 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage devices 1116 may be located external to the processor 1104 but accessible via a memory interface. The memory / storage device 1116 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, 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 memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0103] RF interface circuitry 1108 may include transceiver circuitry and a radio frequency front-end module (RFEM), which allows device 1100 to communicate with other devices via an air interface. The air interface may be an access cell or a wireless backhaul. RF interface circuitry 1108 may include various components arranged in the transmit or receive path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuitry, control circuitry, etc.

[0104] In the receiving path, the RFEM can receive the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna 1124 and continue to filter and amplify the signal (using a low-noise amplifier). This signal can be provided to the transceiver's receiver, which downconverts the RF signal into a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor circuit 1104A.

[0105] In the transmission path, the transceiver's transmitter upconverts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor circuit 1104A and provides the RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM amplifies the RF signal using a power amplifier before it is radiated across the air interface via antenna 1124.

[0106] In various implementations, the RF interface circuit 1108 can be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology or 5G backhaul technology.

[0107] Antenna 1124 may include multiple antenna elements, each of which converts electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and converts received radio waves back into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged in one or more antenna panels. Antenna 1124 may have omnidirectional, directional, or combinations thereof antenna panels to enable beamforming and multiple-input / multiple-output communication. Antenna 1124 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. Antenna 1124 may have one or more panels designed for a specific frequency band included in FR1 or FR2.

[0108] When the device is used as a core network device to connect to other components of the core network, a CN interface circuit 1112 may be provided. The CN interface circuit 1112 may use a 5GC-compatible network interface protocol (such as Carrier Ethernet protocol) or some other suitable protocol. The CN interface circuit 1112 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN controller circuit 1112 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0109] The positioning circuit 1118 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals to determine the location of the mobile base station 1100. In some embodiments, the signals may be transmitted / broadcast by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning network. The positioning circuit 1118 may include various hardware components (e.g., switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc.) to communicate with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1118 may include a micro-technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing, which performs position tracking / estimation using a master timing clock without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1118 may also be part of or interact with the baseband processor 1104A or RF interface circuitry 1108 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1118 may also provide location data and / or time data to the processor 1104, which can use this data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures, etc.

[0110] One aspect of this invention is the collection and use of data available from specific and lawful sources to improve the allocation of cellular network coverage. This disclosure envisions that, in some instances, the collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to identify specific individuals or user devices. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, online identifiers, telephone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, data or records related to a user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital sign measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other personal information.

[0111] This disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the techniques of this invention can benefit users. For example, personal information data can be used to provide seamless delivery of radio access network coverage.

[0112] This disclosure assumes that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing, or otherwise using such personal information data will comply with established privacy policies and / or privacy practices. Specifically, it is expected that such entities will implement and consistently apply privacy practices generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Such information regarding the use of personal data should be highlighted and easily accessible to users, and should be updated as data collection and / or use changes. Users' personal information should be collected only for lawful use. Furthermore, such collection / sharing should only occur after receiving user consent or other lawful grounds provided for in applicable law. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to protect and safeguard access to such personal information data and ensure that others with access to personal information data comply with their privacy policies and processes. Additionally, such entities may be subject to third-party evaluations to demonstrate their compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. Furthermore, policies and practices should be tailored to the specific types of personal information data collected and / or accessed, and made applicable to applicable laws and standards, including jurisdiction-specific considerations that may be used to impose higher standards. For example, in the United States, the collection or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly.

[0113] Regardless of the foregoing, this disclosure also anticipates implementation schemes for users to selectively block the use or access to personal information data. That is, this disclosure anticipates providing hardware and / or software components to prevent or block access to such personal information data.

[0114] Furthermore, the purpose of this disclosure is to manage and process personal information data to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Once data is no longer needed, this risk can be minimized by limiting data collection and deleting data. Additionally, and where applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data deidentification can be used to protect user privacy. Deidentification can be facilitated, where appropriate, by removing identifiers, controlling the amount or specificity of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at the city level rather than the address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data among users), and / or other methods such as differentiated privacy.

[0115] Therefore, while this disclosure broadly covers the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, it is also contemplated that various embodiments can be implemented without access to such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present invention will not be rendered inoperable due to the absence of all or part of such personal information data. For example, content can be selected and delivered to the user based on aggregated non-personal information data or an absolute minimum amount of personal information, such as content processed only on the user's device or other non-personal information that can be used for content delivery services.

[0116] 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, or methods as described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples below. Similarly, circuitry 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 examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0117] Example

[0118] Further exemplary implementations are provided in the following sections.

[0119] Example 1 includes a method for operating a mobile base station, the method comprising: determining cell handover information related to a geographical location; determining that the mobile base station is close to the geographical location for a certain period of time; and providing a serving cell at the geographical location during the period of time based on the cell handover information.

[0120] Example 2 includes the method according to Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, wherein providing the serving cell includes: transmitting a synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell based on the cell handover information.

[0121] Example 3 includes the method according to Example 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: determining UE-level information corresponding to a user equipment (UE) in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection mode within the serving cell.

[0122] Example 4 includes the method according to Example 3 or some other embodiment herein, and further includes: receiving a transfer request from a source mobile base station via an Xn interface, the transfer request including the UE-level information.

[0123] Example 5 includes the method according to Example 4 or some other embodiment herein, wherein providing the serving cell includes: transmitting channel state information-reference signals to the UE.

[0124] Example 6 includes the method according to Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, further comprising: accessing routing information to determine a scheduling route for the mobile base station; and determining at least a portion of the cell handover information and the geographical location based on the scheduling route.

[0125] Example 7 includes the method according to Example 6 or some other embodiment of this document, further comprising: receiving a transfer request from a source mobile base station, the transfer request including at least a portion of the cell handover information.

[0126] Example 8 includes the method according to Example 6 or some other embodiment of this document, further comprising: receiving a message having at least a portion of the routing information or the cell handover information from a base station tracking function in the core network.

[0127] Example 9 includes the method according to Example 1 or some other embodiment of this document, further comprising: simultaneously transmitting channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS) to one or more connected user equipment in the serving cell with the source mobile base station.

[0128] Example 10 includes the method according to Example 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the mobile base station is a centralized mobile base station unit (CU), and providing the serving cell includes: providing Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer operation, Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer operation, or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer operation; and controlling a distributed mobile base station unit (DU) to provide an air interface for the serving cell.

[0129] Example 11 includes a method of operating a mobile base station, the method comprising: providing a serving cell for a geographic location; detecting a handover event; and transmitting cell handover information to a target mobile base station based on the handover event to transfer the allocation of the serving cell to the target mobile base station.

[0130] Example 12 includes the method according to Example 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the cell handover information includes UE-level information of each user equipment (UE) in connection mode with the mobile base station.

[0131] Example 13 includes the method according to Example 12 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE-level information includes the UE context of the first UE.

[0132] Example 14 includes the method according to Example 12 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the cell handover information includes cell-level information relating to the identity of the primary cell associated with the serving cell.

[0133] Example 15 includes the method according to Example 14 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving the cell-level information from a base station tracking function in the core network based on the routing of the mobile base station.

[0134] Example 16 includes the method according to Example 12 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the serving cell is a first serving cell, the geographic location is a first geographic location, and the method further includes: providing a second serving cell at a second geographic location.

[0135] Example 17 includes the method according to Example 16 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the mobile base station is a low Earth orbit satellite device.

[0136] Example 18 includes a method for operating core network functions, the method comprising: identifying cell handover information of a serving cell associated with a geographic region; determining that a mobile base station is located near the geographic region; and transmitting the cell handover information to the mobile base station based on the determination that the mobile base station is located near the geographic region.

[0137] Example 19 includes the method according to Example 18 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving a path switching request from the mobile base station; updating the bearer path to reflect that downlink transmissions to the user equipment will be sent to the mobile base station; and transmitting a path switching request confirmation message to the mobile base station to indicate that the bearer path has been updated.

[0138] Example 20. The method according to Example 18 further includes: determining the route of the mobile base station; identifying cell handover information of multiple serving cells based on the route, the multiple serving cells being associated with corresponding multiple geographical areas; and transmitting the cell handover information of the multiple serving cells to the mobile base station.

[0139] Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising one or more elements for performing the method or any other method or process described herein, as described in or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0140] Example 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of the method or any other method or process described herein, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0141] Example 23 may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of the method described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20 or any other method or process described herein.

[0142] Example 24 may include a method, technique, or process, or a part or component thereof, described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0143] Example 25 may include an apparatus comprising one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0144] Example 26 may include a signal, or a portion thereof, described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0145] Example 27 may include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message, or a portion or component thereof, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0146] Example 28 may include a signal encoded with data according to or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0147] Example 29 may include a signal, or a portion or component thereof, encoded as a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU, or message, as described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0148] Example 30 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause one or more processors to perform the methods, techniques, or processes, or portions thereof, described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0149] Example 31 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element will cause the processing element to perform, or in part with, the methods, techniques or processes described or associated with any of Examples 1 to 20.

[0150] Example 32 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0151] Example 33 may include methods for communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0152] Example 34 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0153] Example 35 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0154] Unless otherwise expressly stated, any of the examples above may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). The foregoing description of one or more specific embodiments provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In light of the teachings above, modifications and variations are possible, or modifications and variations may be derived from practice of various embodiments.

[0155] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the disclosure is fully understood. This disclosure is intended to render the following claims as encompassing all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a mobile base station to: Based on the scheduling route of the mobile base station, the first part of the cell handover information of multiple serving cells associated with multiple geographical regions is received from the core network functions. The mobile base station will be adjacent to the multiple geographical regions. The first part of the cell handover information includes cell-level information; The system receives a transfer request from the source mobile base station. The transfer request includes a second part of the cell handover information, wherein the second part of the cell handover information includes user equipment (UE) level information regarding the status of the allocated resources, the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure, the paging procedure, the random access procedure, or the mobility procedure within the serving cell. It is determined that the mobile base station will approach a first geographical location in the plurality of geographical regions for a certain period of time; as well as Based on the first and second portions of the cell handover information, a service cell is provided at the first geographical location during the time period.

2. The one or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein, in order to provide the serving cell, the mobile base station further: transmits a synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell based on the first or second portion of the cell handover information.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the UE-level information corresponds to a UE in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection mode within the serving cell.

4. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 1, wherein, in order to provide the serving cell, the mobile base station: transmits channel state information-reference signals to the UE.

5. One or more computer-readable media according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the mobile base station to: Access routing information to determine the scheduling route for the mobile base station; and The scheduling route is used to determine at least the first part of the cell handover information and the first geographical location.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the mobile base station to: receive a message having at least the first portion of the cell handover information or the routing information from a base station tracking function in the core network.

7. One or more computer-readable media according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the mobile base station to: transmit channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS) simultaneously with the source mobile base station to one or more connected user equipment in the serving cell.

8. One or more computer-readable media according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the mobile base station is a centralized mobile base station unit (CU), and in order to provide the serving cell, the mobile base station CU: provides Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer operation, Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer operation, or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer operation; and controls distributed mobile base station units (DU) to provide an air interface for the serving cell.

9. A method for non-terrestrial communication, the method comprising: Based on the scheduling and routing of mobile base stations, the system receives a first part of cell handover information from core network functions for multiple serving cells that are associated with multiple geographical regions. The mobile base stations are adjacent to the multiple geographical regions. The first part of the cell handover information includes cell-level information. The system receives a transfer request from the source mobile base station. The transfer request includes a second part of the cell handover information, wherein the second part of the cell handover information includes user equipment (UE) level information regarding the status of the allocated resources, the Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) procedure, the paging procedure, the random access procedure, or the mobility procedure within the serving cell. Determining that the mobile base station will approach a first geographical location within the plurality of geographical regions for a certain period of time; and Based on the first and second portions of the cell handover information, a service cell is provided at the first geographical location during the time period.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the serving cell comprises: Based on the first or second part of the cell handover information, a synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell are transmitted.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: Determine the UE-level information corresponding to the user equipment (UE) in Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection mode within the serving cell.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: The transfer request is received from the source mobile base station via the Xn interface, and the transfer request includes the UE-level information.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein providing the serving cell comprises: Transmit channel state information-reference signal to the UE.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9-13, further comprising: Access routing information to determine the scheduling route for the mobile base station; as well as The scheduling route is used to determine at least the first part of the cell handover information and the first geographical location.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Receive a message containing at least the first part of the cell handover information or the routing information from the base station tracking function in the core network.

16. The method according to any one of claims 9-13, further comprising: Simultaneously with the source mobile base station, a synchronization signal is transmitted in the serving cell.

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