Modified handover procedure for geo-fixed and geo-mobile beams

Abstract

A user equipment (UE), a next generation Node B (gNB), or other network component may be operable to configure a group configuration message that initiates a plurality of UEs in a coverage area of ​​a non-terrestrial network (NTN) to simultaneously transmit communications from a first beam of a first satellite to a second beam of a second satellite. The communications of one or more UEs may be redirected to the second beam of the second satellite based on downlink control information of the group configuration message.

Description

[0001] Citation of Related Applications

[0002] This application is a national phase entry application of International Patent Application No. PCT / CN2020 / 123349, titled "MODIFIED HANDOVER PROCEDURES FOR EARTH FIXED AND EARTH MOBILE BEAMS", filed on October 23, 2020, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless technologies, and more particularly, to technologies for modified handover procedures for earth fixed and earth mobile beams. Background Art

[0004] As the number of mobile devices within a wireless network and the demand for mobile data traffic continue to increase, changes are made to system requirements and architectures to better address current and anticipated needs. For example, some wireless communication networks (e.g., fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks) can be developed to include a non-terrestrial network (NTN) with one or more satellites. In such scenarios, the satellite can be used as a transparent network node to connect user equipment (UE) to the terrestrial part of the network (such as base stations and core network (CN)). Summary of the Invention

[0005] In a first aspect, there is provided a base station, comprising: a memory; and a processor configured to: initiate a beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite for a plurality of UEs in a non-terrestrial network (NTN); generate a group configuration message of downlink control information, the group configuration message initiating the plurality of UEs to simultaneously transmit communication from a beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection; and provide the group configuration message of the downlink control information to the plurality of UEs.

[0006] In a second aspect, there is provided a user equipment UE, comprising: a memory; and

[0007] a processor configured to: receive a group configuration message that initiates a plurality of UEs in a coverage area of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) to simultaneously transmit communication from a first satellite to a second satellite; and redirect communication via the second satellite based on downlink control information of the group configuration message. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008] Figure 1is a block diagram showing an architecture of a system including a core network (CN) (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) CN (5GC)) according to various aspects.

[0009] Figure 2 is an illustration showing exemplary components of a device that can be employed according to the aspects discussed herein.

[0010] Figure 3 is an illustration showing an exemplary interface of a baseband circuit that can be employed according to the aspects discussed herein.

[0011] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing a system that facilitates cell selection and / or reselection of a UE capable of connecting to one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) according to the aspects discussed herein.

[0012] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein, the schematic diagram showing different types of satellites that can be used as nodes of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) and related characteristics.

[0013] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary transparent mode architecture for an NTN network in conjunction with the various aspects discussed herein.

[0014] Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary NTN architecture for beam coverage and network architecture for a pair of satellites in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0015] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of another exemplary NTN architecture for beam coverage and network architecture for a pair of satellites in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0016] Figure 9 shows an exemplary call flow of an Xn-based handover procedure in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0017] Figure 10 shows an exemplary modified call flow of a handover procedure for NTN operation in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0018] Figures 11 to 12 shows an exemplary call flow of an N2-based handover procedure in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0019] Figure 13 shows an example of another modified call flow of a handover procedure for NTN operation in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0020] Figure 14 shows an example of a group messaging call flow of a handover procedure in conjunction with the aspects discussed herein.

[0021] Figure 15 An example of a group messaging call flow for a handover process is shown in conjunction with the various aspects discussed herein.

[0022] Figure 16 An example of a group messaging call flow for a handover process is shown in conjunction with the various aspects discussed herein.

[0023] Figure 17 is another block diagram showing an exemplary processing flow for an NTN handover process in accordance with the various aspects discussed herein.

[0024] Figure 18 is another block diagram showing an exemplary processing flow for an NTN handover process in accordance with the various aspects discussed herein. Detailed Description

[0025] As is well known, the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

[0026] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like (or end-similar) reference numerals are used throughout to refer to like elements, and in which the structures and devices shown are not necessarily drawn to scale. As used herein, the terms "component," "system," "interface," etc. are intended to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, software (e.g., in execution), and / or firmware. For example, a component can be a processor (e.g., a microprocessor, a controller, or other processing device), a process running on the processor, a controller, an object, an executable, a program, a storage device, a computer, a tablet, and / or a user equipment with a processing device (e.g., a mobile phone, etc.). By way of example, an application running on a server and the server can also be a component. One or more components can reside in a process, and components can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. Sets of elements or other sets of components can be described herein, where the term "set" can be interpreted as "one or more."

[0027] In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable storage media on which various data structures are stored, such as, for example, utilization modules. The components can communicate, for example, according to a signal having one or more data packets via local and / or remote processes (e.g., data from one component interacts with another component in a local system, a distributed system, and / or across a network, such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, or a similar network to other systems via the signal).

[0028] As another example, a component can be a device having a specific function provided by a mechanical component operated by an electrical or electronic circuit, where the electrical or electronic circuit can be operated by a software application or a firmware application executed by one or more processors. The one or more processors can be inside or outside the device and can execute at least a portion of the software or firmware application. As yet another example, a component can be a device that provides a specific function through an electronic component without a mechanical component; the electronic component can include one or more processors therein to execute at least a portion of the software and / or firmware that imparts the function to the electronic component.

[0029] The use of the term "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless otherwise specified or clear from the context, "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any natural inclusive permutation. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then "X employs A or B" is satisfied in any of the foregoing instances. Additionally, the articles "a" and "an" as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean "one or more" unless otherwise specified or clearly indicated to be in the singular form from the context. Further, to the extent that the terms "comprising," "including," "having," "has," "with," or variants thereof are used in the detailed description and claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "containing". Additionally, in the case of discussing one or more numbered items (e.g., "first X", "second X", etc.), generally, the one or more numbered items can be different or they can be the same, but in some cases, the context can indicate that they are different or indicate that they are the same.

[0030] As used herein, the term "circuit" may refer to, be part of, or include: an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), or associated memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that operably couples to the circuit, which executes one or more software or firmware programs, combinational logic circuits, or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuit may be implemented in one or more software or firmware modules, or the functionality associated with the circuit may be implemented by one or more software or firmware modules. In some embodiments, the circuit may include logic that is at least partially operable in hardware.

[0031] In view of the above, various aspects / embodiments for communication in an NR network device (e.g., a user equipment (UE), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a new radio (NR) base station (BS), etc.) are disclosed. A beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite can be generated for a UE in a non-terrestrial network (NTN). A group configuration message of downlink control information initiates the UE to simultaneously transmit communication from a beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection, and then provides it to the UE to trigger concurrent redirection and handover operations for the inbound satellite. The source gNB that provides the message can be configured with the satellite in transparent mode, where at least a part of the gNB is integrated with or includes the satellite in the NTN network via a distributed unit connected to a processor component of the satellite. Since the gNB can be aware of the inbound and handover coverage areas to a large extent, the gNB initiates redirection and handover (HO) without UE assistance, UE measurement reports, or UE HO requests, but based on ephemeris data, the gNB configures downlink control information (DCI) for the group message and simultaneously provides it to all UEs within the coverage area of the satellite beam of the inbound satellite.

[0032] A group configuration message may include configuration of a target gNB of an inbound satellite to multiple UEs, where the target gNB may be in transparent mode or grounded. The configuration of the target may include the cell ID of the target, for example, to enable all UEs in the coverage area, whether in Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle mode, RRC connected mode, or other modes, to start redirecting their communication paths to the target gNB. Wherein the group configuration message includes a broadcast or multicast Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message based on a Group Radio Network Temporary Identifier (G-RNTI). In some examples, the group configuration message may include a broadcast or multicast message. The group configuration message may be a general configuration message, or may be configured or may not be configured as a Radio Resource Control (RRC) reconfiguration message based on a Group Radio Network Temporary Identifier (G-RNTI), depending on the specific operating architecture used for the UE.

[0033] Other aspects and details of the present disclosure are further described below with reference to the drawings.

[0034] Aspects described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitable configured hardware and / or software. Referring Figure 1 , an exemplary network 100 is shown in accordance with various aspects discussed herein. The exemplary network 100 may include UEs 110-1, 110-2, etc. (collectively referred to as "UE 110" and individually referred to as "UE 110"), a Radio Access Network (RAN) 120, a Core Network (CN) 130, an Application Server 140, an External Network 150, and satellites 160-1, 160-2, etc. (collectively referred to as "satellites 160" and individually referred to as "satellites 160"). As shown, the network 100 may include a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) that includes one or more satellites 160 (e.g., of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) that communicate with the UEs 110 and the RAN 120.

[0035] The systems and devices of the exemplary network 100 may operate according to one or more communication standards, such as the second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)), and / or fifth generation (5G) (e.g., New Radio (NR)) communication standards of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the systems and devices in the network 100 may operate according to other communication standards and protocols discussed herein, including future versions or generations of 3GPP standards (e.g., sixth generation (6G) standards, seventh generation (7G) standards, etc.), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards (e.g., Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), etc.), and so on.

[0036] As shown in the figure, UE 110 may include a smart phone (e.g., a handheld touch screen mobile computing device that can be connected to one or more wireless communication networks). Additionally or alternatively, UE 110 may include other types of mobile or non-mobile computing devices capable of wireless communication, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handheld terminals, and the like. In some specific implementations, UE 110 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) device (or IoT UE), which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-lived UE connections. Additionally or alternatively, the IoT UE may utilize one or more types of technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) communication or machine type communication (MTC) (e.g., to exchange data with an MTC server or other devices via a public land mobile network (PLMN)), proximity services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, IoT networks, and more. Depending on the scenario, the M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange, and the IoT network may include IoT UEs interconnected by short-lived connections (which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices within the Internet infrastructure). In some scenarios, the IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connection of the IoT network.

[0037] UE 110 may communicate with and establish a connection (e.g., communicatively couple) to RAN 120, which may involve one or more wireless channels 114-1 and 114-2, each of which may include a physical communication interface / layer. In some specific implementations, the UE may be configured with dual connectivity (DC) as a multi-radio access technology (multi-RAT) or multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), where a UE capable of multiple receive and transmit (Rx / Tx) may use resources provided by different network nodes (e.g., 122-1 and 122-2), which may be connected by a non-ideal backhaul connection (e.g., where one network node provides NR access and the other network node provides E-UTRA for LTE or NR access for 5G). In such scenarios, one network node may act as a master node (MN), and the other node may act as a secondary node (SN). The MN and SN may be connected via a network interface, and at least the MN may be connected to CN 130. Additionally, at least one of the MN or SN may operate with shared spectrum channel access, and the functions specified for UE 110 may be used for an integrated access and backhaul mobile terminal (IAB-MT). Similar to UE 101, the IAB-MT may access the network using one network node or using two different nodes with an enhanced dual connectivity (EN-DC) architecture, a new radio dual connectivity (NR-DC) architecture, etc.

[0038] As shown in the figure, the UE 110 may also or alternatively be connected to an access point (AP) 116 via an interface 118, which may include an air interface coupled to enable the UE 110 to communicate with the AP 116. The AP 116 may include a wireless local area network (WLAN), a WLAN node, a WLAN termination point, etc. The connection 1207 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 702.11 protocol, and the AP 116 may include a Wi-Fi router or other AP. Although Figure 1 not explicitly depicted in the figure, the AP 116 may be connected to another network (e.g., the Internet) without being connected to the RAN 120 or the CN 130. In some scenarios, the UE 110, the RAN 120, and the AP 116 may be configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) technology or LTE WLAN radio-level technology integrated with an IPsec tunnel (LWIP). LWA may involve the RAN 120 configuring the UE 110 in the RRC_CONNECTED state to utilize the radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP may involve the UE 110 using the WLAN radio resources (e.g., the connection interface 118) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt the packets (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) packets) transmitted through the connection interface 118. The IPsec tunnel transmission may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header to protect the original header of the IP packet.

[0039] The RAN 120 may include one or more RAN nodes 122-1 and 122-2 (collectively referred to as the plurality of RAN nodes 122 and individually as a RAN node 122), enabling the establishment of connections 114-1 and 114-2 between the UE 110 and the RAN 120. The RAN node 122 may include a network access point configured to provide radio baseband functions for data and / or voice connections between a user and a network based on one or more of the communication technologies described herein (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, WiFi, etc.). Thus, by way of example, the RAN node may be an E-UTRAN Node B (e.g., an enhanced Node B, eNodeB, eNB, 4G base station, etc.), a next-generation base station (e.g., a 5G base station, NR base station, next-generation eNB (gNB), etc.). The RAN node 122 may include a roadside unit (RSU), a transmission and reception point (TRxP or TRP), and one or more other types of ground stations (e.g., a ground access point). In some scenarios, the RAN node 122 may be a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station and / or a low-power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, a smaller user capacity, or a higher bandwidth compared to a macrocell. As described below, in some specific implementations, the satellite 160 may operate as a base station (e.g., a RAN node 122) relative to the UE 110. Thus, references herein to base stations, RAN nodes 122, etc. may relate to specific implementations where the base stations, RAN nodes 122, etc. are terrestrial network nodes and also to specific implementations where the base stations, RAN nodes 122, etc. are non-terrestrial network nodes (e.g., the satellite 160).

[0040] Some or all of the RAN nodes 120 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a Centralized RAN (CRAN) and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these specific implementations, the CRAN or vBBUP may enable RAN function splitting, such as Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) splitting, where the Radio Resource Control (RRC) and PDCP layers may be operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and other Layer 2 (L2) protocol entities may be operated by the respective RAN nodes 122; Medium Access Control (MAC) / Physical (PHY) layer splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, Radio Link Control (RLC), and MAC layers may be operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer may be operated by the respective RAN nodes 122; or "lower PHY" splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and the upper part of the PHY layer may be operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower part of the PHY layer may be operated by the respective RAN nodes 122. This virtualization framework may allow the idle processor cores of the RAN nodes 122 to host or execute other virtualized applications.

[0041] In some specific implementations, individual RAN nodes 122 may represent individual gNB Distributed Units (DUs) connected to a gNB Control Unit (CU) via respective F1 interfaces. In such specific implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more Remote Radio Headers or Radio Frequency (RF) Front End Modules (RFEMs), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located within the RAN 120 or by a pool of servers (e.g., a group of servers configured to share resources) in a manner similar to the CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 120 may be a Next Generation eNB (i.e., gNB), which may provide evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol termination to the UE 110 and may be connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC) 130 via the NG interface.

[0042] Any one of the RAN nodes 122 can serve as the termination point of the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UE 110. In some specific embodiments, any one of the RAN nodes 122 can perform various logical functions of the RAN 120, 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. The UE 110 can be configured to communicate with each other or with any one of the RAN nodes 122 over a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication technologies, such as but not limited to OFDMA communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink (SL) communication), but the scope of such specific embodiments may not be limited in this regard. The OFDM signal can include a plurality of orthogonal sub-carriers.

[0043] In some specific embodiments, the downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmission from any one of the RAN nodes 122 to the UE 110, and uplink transmission can utilize a similar technique. The grid can be a time-frequency grid (e.g., a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid), which represents the physical resources of the downlink in each time slot. For an OFDM system, such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid correspond to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM sub-carrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in the radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block can include a set of resource elements (REs); in the frequency domain, this can represent the smallest amount of resources that can be currently allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0044] In addition, the RAN node 122 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with the UE 110 and / or with each other via a licensed medium (also referred to as "licensed spectrum" and / or "licensed band"), an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum" and / or "unlicensed band"), or a combination thereof. The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include the 5 GHz band. The licensed spectrum may correspond to channels or bands that are selected, reserved, regulated, etc. for certain types of wireless activities (e.g., radio telecommunications network activities), while the unlicensed spectrum may correspond to one or more bands that are unrestricted for certain types of wireless activities. Whether a particular band corresponds to a licensed or unlicensed medium may depend on one or more factors, such as frequency allocations determined by public sector organizations (e.g., government agencies, regulatory bodies, etc.) or frequency allocations determined by private sector organizations involved in the development of wireless communication standards and protocols, etc.

[0045] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the UE 110 and the RAN node 122 may use licensed-assisted access (LAA), eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms to operate. In these specific implementations, the UE 110 and the RAN node 122 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations 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 the listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0046] The LAA mechanism can be built on the carrier aggregation (CA) technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a component carrier (CC). In some cases, the individual CCs may have different bandwidths from other CCs. In a time-division duplex (TDD) system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC can be the same for both DL and UL. CA also includes individual serving cells to provide the individual CCs. The coverage ranges of the serving cells can be different. For example, because the CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell can provide the primary component carrier (PCC) for both UL and DL, and can handle radio resource control (RRC) and non-access stratum (NAS) related activities. The other serving cells are called SCell, and each SCell can provide a single secondary component carrier (SCC) for both UL and DL. SCCs can be added and removed as needed, while changing the PCC may require the UE110 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCell can operate in the unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAASCell"), and the LAA SCell is assisted by the PCell operating in the licensed spectrum. When the UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE can receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCell, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0047] The PDSCH can carry user data and high-layer signaling to the UE 110. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) can carry information such as about the transmission format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. The PDCCH can also notify the UE 110 about the transmission format, resource allocation, and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) information related to the uplink shared channel. Generally, downlink scheduling can be performed on any of the RAN nodes 122 based on the channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs in the UE 110 (e.g., allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 110-2 within the cell). The downlink resource allocation information can be sent on the PDCCH for each UE in the UE 110 (e.g., allocated to).

[0048] The PDCCH uses control channel elements (CCEs) to convey control information, where many CCEs (e.g., 6, etc.) can be composed of resource element groups (REGs), and a REG is defined as a physical resource block (PRB) in an OFDM symbol. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quads and then, for example, 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 each having four physical resource elements, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. Four or more different PDCCH formats with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L = 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16) can be defined in LTE.

[0049] Some specific implementations can use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some specific implementations can utilize an extended (E)-PDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs can be used to transmit the EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE can correspond to nine sets including four physical resource elements, called EREGs. In some cases, an ECCE can have other numbers of EREGs.

[0050] RAN nodes 122 can be configured to communicate with each other via interface 123. In a particular implementation where system 100 is an LTE system, interface 123 can be an X2 interface. The X2 interface can be defined between two or more RAN nodes 122 (e.g., two or more eNB / gNBs or combinations thereof) connected to the evolved packet core (EPC) or CN 130, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some particular implementations, the X2 interface can include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). X2-U can provide a flow control mechanism for user data packets transmitted through the X2 interface and can be used to convey information regarding the delivery of user data between eNBs or gNBs. For example, X2-U can provide specific sequence number information regarding user data transmitted from a master eNB (MeNB) to a secondary eNB (SeNB); information regarding the successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP packet data units (PDUs) from the SeNB to the UE 110 for user data; information on PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 110; information regarding the current minimum desired buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and so on. X2-C can provide access mobility functions within LTE (e.g., including context transfer from a source eNB to a target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.), load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0051] As shown, RAN 120 can be connected (e.g., communicatively coupled) to CN 130. CN 130 can include a plurality of network elements 132 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 110) connected to CN 130 via RAN 120. In some particular implementations, CN 130 can include an evolved packet core (EPC), a 5G CN, and / or one or more additional or alternative types of CNs. The components of CN 130 can be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some particular implementations, network function virtualization (NFV) can be used to virtualize any one or all of the above network node roles or functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical example of CN 130 can be referred to as a network slice, and a logical example of a part of CN 130 can be referred to as a network sub-slice. The network function virtualization (NFV) architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources including a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, an NFV system can be used to perform virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0052] As shown, CN 130, application server (AS) 140, and external network 150 can be connected to each other via interfaces 134, 136, and 138, which can include IP network interfaces. The application server 140 can include one or more server devices or network elements (e.g., virtual network functions (VNFs)) that provide applications using IP bearer resources over CN 130 (e.g., Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Packet Service (UMTS PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). The application server 140 can also or alternatively be configured to support one or more communication services of UE 110 via CN 130 (e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP) sessions, Push-to-Talk (PTT) sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.). Similarly, the external network 150 can include one or more of various networks, including the Internet, thereby providing network access to the mobile communication network and UE 110 for various additional services, information, interconnectivity, and other network features.

[0053] As shown in the figure, the exemplary network 100 may include an NTN that may include one or more satellites 160-1 and 160-2 (collectively referred to as "satellites 160"). The satellites 160 may communicate with the UE 110 via a service link or wireless interface 162 and / or communicate with the RAN 120 via a feeder link or wireless interface 164 (individually depicted as 164-1 and 164). In some specific implementations, the satellites 160 may operate as passive or transparent network relay nodes for communications between the UE 110 and a terrestrial network (e.g., the RAN 120). In some specific implementations, the satellites 160 may operate as active or regenerative network nodes such that the satellites 160 may operate as a base station for the UE 110 (e.g., a gNB of the RAN 120) for communications between the UE 110 and the RAN 120. In some specific implementations, the satellites 160 may communicate with each other via a direct wireless interface (e.g., 166) or an indirect wireless interface (e.g., via the RAN 120 using interfaces 164-1 and 164-2). Additionally or alternatively, the satellites 160 may include GEO satellites, LEO satellites, or another type of satellite. The satellites 160 may also or alternatively relate to one or more satellite systems or architectures, such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), etc. In some specific implementations, the satellites 160 may operate as a base station (e.g., RAN node 122) with respect to the UE 110. Thus, references herein to base stations, RAN node 122, etc. may relate to specific implementations where the base stations, RAN node 122, etc. are terrestrial network nodes and to specific implementations where the base stations, RAN node 122, etc. are non-terrestrial network nodes (e.g., satellites 160).

[0054] Core NW elements / components may include one or more of the following functions and network components: Authentication Server Function (AUSF); Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF); Session Management Function (SMF); Network Exposure Function (NEF); Policy Control Function (PCF); Network Repository Function (NRF); Unified Data Management (UDM); Application Function (AF); User Plane (UP) Function (UPF); and Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF).

[0055] The UPF can act as an anchor point for mobility within and between RATs, an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point interconnected with a data network (DN), and a branching point for supporting multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF can also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, implement the user plane part of policy rules, legally intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing on the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, uplink (UL) / downlink (DL) rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., traffic data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), perform transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF can include an uplink classifier for supporting routing traffic to a data network. The DN can be various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services, including or similar to application servers. The UPF can interact with the SMF via the N4 reference point between the SMF and the UPF.

[0056] The AUSF can store the data for the authentication of the UE 101 and process authentication-related functions. The AUSF can facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF can communicate with the AMF via the N12 reference point between the AMF and the AUSF; and can communicate with the UDM via the N13 reference point between the UDM and the AUSF. Additionally, the AUSF can present an Nausf service-based interface.

[0057] The AMF can be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering the UE 110, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and legal interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF can be the termination point of the N11 reference point between the AMF and the SMF. The AMF can provide transmission for SM messages between the UE 110 and the SMF and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. The AMF can also provide transmission for SMS messages between the UE 110 and a short message service (SMS) function (SMSF) ( Figure 1 (not shown in the figure). The AMF can act as a security anchor function (SEAF), which can include interaction with the AUSF and the UE 110 and / or receiving an intermediate key established due to the UE 110 authentication process. In the case of using Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF can retrieve security material from the AUSF. The AMF can also include a single connection mode (SCM) function that receives a key from the SEA for deriving access network-specific keys. In addition, the AMF can be an endpoint of the RAN control plane (CP) interface, which can include or be the N2 reference point between the (R)AN 120 and the AMF; and the AMF is the termination point of non-access stratum (NAS) (N1) signaling and performs NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0058] The AMF can also support NAS signaling with the UE 110 via the non-3GPP (N3) Interworking Function (IWF) interface. The N3IWF can be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3IWF can be an endpoint of the N2 interface between the (R)AN 120 in the control plane and the AMF, and can be an endpoint of the N3 reference point between the (R)AN 120 in the user plane and the UPF. Therefore, the AMF can handle N2 signaling from the SMF and the AMF for PDU sessions and QoS, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for Internet Protocol (IP) security (IPSec) and N3 tunneling, mark N3 user plane packets on the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to the N3 packet marking, thus taking into account the QoS requirements associated with such markings received via N2. The N3IWF can also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 110 and the AMF via the N1 reference point between the UE 110 and the AMF, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 110 and the UPF. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 110. The AMF can present an interface based on the Namf service and can be an endpoint of the N14 reference point between two AMFs 121 and the N17 reference point between the AMF and the 5G Equipment Identity Register (5G-EIR) ( Figure 1 not shown in the figure).

[0059] The UE 110 can register with the AMF to receive network services. Registration Management (RM) is used to register the UE 110 with the network (e.g., the AMF) or deregister the UE 110 from the network, and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., the AMF). The UE 110 can operate in the RM-REGISTERED state or the RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, the UE 110 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in the AMF does not hold valid location or routing information of the UE 110, so the AMF cannot reach the UE 110. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 110 is registered with the network, and the UE context in the AMF can hold valid location or routing information of the UE 110, so the AMF can reach the UE 110. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 110 can perform a mobility registration update process, perform a periodic registration update process triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (e.g., to notify the network that the UE 110 is still active), and perform a registration update process to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0060] The AMF can store one or more RM contexts for the UE 110, where each RM context is associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context can be a data structure, a database object, etc., which particularly indicates or stores the registration status and the periodic update timer for each access type. The AMF can also store a 5GC mobility management (MM) context that is the same as or similar to the (Evolved Packet System (EPS)) MM ((E)MM) context. In various embodiments, the AMF can store the coverage enhancement (CE) mode B restriction parameters of the UE 110 in the associated MM context or RM context. The AMF can also derive values from the usage setting parameters of the UE that have been stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when needed.

[0061] Connection management (CM) can be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 110 and the AMF via the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to implement the NAS signaling exchange between the UE 110 and the CN 130, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., an RRC connection for non-3GPP access or a UE-N3IWF connection) and an N2 connection between the UE 110 at the AN (e.g., the RAN 110) and the AMF. The UE 110 can operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 110 operates in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE 110 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF via the N1 interface, and there may be an (R)AN 120 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections) for the UE 110. When the UE 110 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state / mode, the UE 110 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF via the N1 interface, and there may be an (R)AN 120 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections) for the UE 110. Establishing an N2 connection between the (R)AN 120 and the AMF can cause the UE 110 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when the N2 signaling between the (R)AN 120 and the AMF is released, the UE 110 can transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

[0062] The SMF may be responsible for session management (SM) (e.g., session establishment, change, and release, including tunnel maintenance between the UPF and the AN node); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UPF function; configuring the traffic steering of the UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface towards the policy control function; the policy enforcement and the control part of QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and the interface with the lawful interception (LI) system); terminating the SM part of the NAS message; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to the AN via the AMF over N2; and determining the session and service continuity (SSC) mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of the PDU session, and the PDU session or "session" may refer to the PDU connection service that provides or enables the PDU exchange between the UE 110 and the data network DN identified by the data network name (DNN). The PDU session may be established upon request by the UE 110 using the NAS SM signaling exchanged between the UE 110 and the SMF over the N1 reference point, changed upon request by the UE 110 and the 5GC 120, and released upon request by the UE 110 and the 5GC 120. When requested from the application server, the 5GC 120 may trigger a specific application in the UE 110. In response to receiving the trigger message, the UE 110 may pass the trigger message (or the relevant part / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE 110. The identified applications in the UE 110 may establish a PDU session with a specific DNN. The SMF may check whether the UE 110 request complies with the user subscription information associated with the UE 110. In this regard, the SMF may retrieve and / or request updated notifications of SMF-level subscription data received from the UDM 127.

[0063] The SMF may include the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply the QoS service level agreement (SLA) (visited public land mobile network (VPLMN)); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and the interface with the LI system, in the VPLMN); and supporting interaction with the external DN to transmit the signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication via the external DN. In the roaming scenario, the N16 reference point between two SMFs may be included in the system 100, which may be located between the SMF in the visited network and another SMF in the home network. Additionally, the SMF may present an Nsmf service-based interface.

[0064] Figure 2Shows exemplary components of device 200 according to some aspects. In some aspects, device 200 may include application circuit 202, baseband circuit 204, radio frequency (RF) circuit 206, front-end module (FEM) circuit 208, one or more antennas 210, and power management circuit (PMC) 212 (coupled together as shown at least). The illustrated components of device 200 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some aspects, device 200 may include fewer elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuit 202 but instead includes a processor / controller to process IP data received from a CN such as 5GC 120 or an evolved packet core (EPC)). In some aspects, device 200 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors (including one or more temperature sensors such as a single temperature sensor, multiple temperature sensors at different locations in device 200, etc.), or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other aspects, the following components may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuits may be included separately in more than one device for a cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation).

[0065] Application circuit 202 may include one or more application processors. For example, application circuit 202 may include circuitry such as but not limited to one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor may include any combination of a general-purpose processor and a dedicated processor (e.g., a graphics processor, an application processor, etc.). The processor may be coupled to memory / storage or may include memory / storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on device 200. In some aspects, the processor of application circuit 202 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0066] The baseband circuit 204 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 204 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received at the receive signal path of the RF circuit 206 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 206. The baseband processing circuit 204 may interact with the application circuit 202 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 206. For example, in some aspects, the baseband circuit 204 may include a third-generation (3G) baseband processor 204A, a fourth-generation (4G) baseband processor 204B, a fifth-generation (5G) baseband processor 204C, or other baseband processors 204D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., second-generation (2G), sixth-generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuit 204 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors 204A-D) may process various radio control functions that may communicate with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 206. In other aspects, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 204A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 204G and may be executed via the central processing unit (CPU) 204E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some aspects, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 204 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some aspects, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 204 may include convolutional, tail-biting convolutional, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity-check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The aspects of modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functions in other aspects.

[0067] In some aspects, the baseband circuit 204 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 204F. The audio DSP 204F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other aspects. In some aspects, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some aspects, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuit 204 and the application circuit 202 may be implemented together, such as on a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0068] In some aspects, the baseband circuit 204 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some aspects, the baseband circuit 204 may support communications with NG-RAN, evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN), or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN), etc. The aspect that the baseband circuit 204 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as a multi-mode baseband circuit.

[0069] The RF circuit 206 may communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various aspects, the RF circuit 206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communications with the wireless network. The RF circuit 206 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting an RF signal received from the FEM circuit 208 and providing a baseband signal to the baseband circuit 204. The RF circuit 206 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting a baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 204 and providing an RF output signal to the FEM circuit 208 for transmission.

[0070] In some aspects, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 206 may include a mixer circuit 206a, an amplifier circuit 206b, and a filter circuit 206c. In some aspects, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 206 may include the filter circuit 206c and the mixer circuit 206a. The RF circuit 206 may also include a synthesizer circuit 206d for synthesizing the frequencies used by the mixer circuits 206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 206d. The amplifier circuit 206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 206c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF), which is 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 204 for further processing. In some aspects, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, but this is not required. In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of various aspects is not limited in this regard.

[0071] In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 206d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 208. The baseband signal may be provided by the baseband circuit 204 and may be filtered by the filter circuit 206c.

[0072] In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 206a may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some aspects, the mixer circuit 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 206a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0073] In some aspects, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the various aspects is not limited in this regard. In some alternative aspects, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative aspects, the RF circuit 206 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 204 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit 206.

[0074] In some dual-mode aspects, a separate radio IC circuit may be provided to process signals of each spectrum, but the scope of the various aspects is not limited in this regard.

[0075] In some aspects, the synthesizer circuit 206d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the various aspects is not limited in this regard since other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, the synthesizer circuit 206d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0076] The synthesizer circuit 206d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a frequency divider control input for use by the mixer circuit 206a of the RF circuit 206. In some aspects, the synthesizer circuit 206d may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0077] In some aspects, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. The frequency divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 204 or the application circuit 202 according to the desired output frequency. In some aspects, the frequency divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 202.

[0078] The synthesizer circuit 206d of the RF circuit 206 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some aspects, the frequency divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some aspects, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N + 1 (e.g., based on a carry output) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some exemplary aspects, the DLL may include cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these aspects, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase bins, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO period.

[0079] In some aspects, the synthesizer circuit 206d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other aspects, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency), and is used together with a quadrature generator and a frequency divider circuit to generate multiple signals having multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some aspects, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some aspects, the RF circuit 206 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0080] The FEM circuit 208 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 210, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuit 206 for further processing. The FEM circuit 208 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by the RF circuit 206 for transmission through one or more of the one or more antennas 210. In various aspects, amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be accomplished only in the RF circuit 206, only in the FEM 208, or in both the RF circuit 206 and the FEM 208.

[0081] In some aspects, the FEM circuit 208 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operations. The FEM circuit may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., provide to the RF circuit 206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 208 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 206), and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., via one or more of the one or more antennas 210).

[0082] In some aspects, the PMC 212 may manage the power provided to the baseband circuit 204. Specifically, the PMC 212 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When the device 200 is capable of being powered by a battery, e.g., when the device is included in a UE, the PMC 212 is typically included. The PMC 212 may improve power conversion efficiency while providing desired implementation size and thermal characteristics.

[0083] While Figure 2 the PMC 212 is shown coupled only to the baseband circuit 204. However, in other aspects, the PMC 212 may be additionally or alternatively coupled to other components such as, but not limited to, the application circuit 202, the RF circuit 206, or the FEM 208, and perform similar power management operations.

[0084] In some aspects, the PMC 212 may control or otherwise participate in various power saving mechanisms of the device 200. For example, if the device 200 is in the RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it still expects to receive traffic soon as expected, after a period of inactivity, it may enter a state called discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the device 200 may power down for short intervals, thus saving power.

[0085] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 200 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, where it is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 200 enters a very low power state, and it performs paging, where it wakes up periodically again to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 200 may not receive data while in this state; to receive data, the device may transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0086] An additional power-saving mode can cause the device to be unable to use the network for longer than the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to several hours). During this period, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this period will incur a significant delay, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0087] The processors of the application circuit 202 and the processors of the baseband circuit 204 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processors of the baseband circuit 204 can be used alone or in combination to execute functions of Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1, while the processors of the application circuit 204 can utilize the data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further execute functions of Layer 4 (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, Layer 3 may include the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, Layer 2 may include the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, Layer 1 may include the Physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0088] Figure 3 An exemplary interface of the baseband circuit according to some aspects is shown. As discussed above, Figure 2 the baseband circuit 204 may include processors 204A - 204E and a memory 204G utilized by the processors. Each of the processors 204A - 204E may respectively include memory interfaces 304A - 304E to send / receive data to / from the memory 204G.

[0089] The baseband circuit 204 may further include: one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 312 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 204); an application circuit interface 314 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from Figure 2 the application circuit 202); an RF circuit interface 316 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from Figure 2 the RF circuit 206); a wireless hardware connection interface 318 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a Near Field Communication (NFC) component, components (e.g., Low Energy), components, and other communication components); and a power management interface 320 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from the PMC 212).

[0090] Reference Figure 4 shows a block diagram of a system 400 according to various aspects discussed herein, which can be employed at a UE (User Equipment), a base station (BS, such as a next-generation Node B (gNodeB or gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB) or other BS (Base Station) / TRP (Transmit / Receive Point)), an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) or another component of a 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) network (e.g., a 5GC (Fifth Generation Core Network) component or function, such as an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function)), and the system facilitates cell selection and / or reselection of a UE capable of connecting to one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTN). The system 400 may include a processor 410, a communication circuit 420, and a memory 430. The processor 410 (e.g., which may include one or more of 202 and / or 204A - 204F, etc.) may include processing circuitry and associated interfaces (e.g., a communication interface for communicating with the communication circuit 420 (e.g., an RF circuit interface 316), a memory interface for communicating with the memory 430 (e.g., a memory interface 312), etc.). The communication circuit 420 may include, for example, circuitry for wired and / or wireless connections (e.g., 206 and / or 208), which may include a transmitter circuit (e.g., associated with one or more transmission chains) and / or a receiver circuit (e.g., associated with one or more receiving chains), where the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit may employ common and / or different circuit elements, or a combination thereof. The memory 430 may include one or more memory devices (e.g., a memory 204G, local memory (e.g., including the CPU registers of the processor discussed herein, etc.)), which may have various storage media (e.g., volatile and / or non-volatile according to any of various technologies / configurations, etc.), and may store instructions and / or data associated with one or more of the processor 410 or the transceiver circuit 420.

[0091] Particular types of aspects of the system 400 (e.g., UE aspects, etc.) may be indicated via subscripts (e.g., system 400 UE includes a processor 410 UE , a communication circuit 420 UE and a memory 430 UE ). In some aspects, such as BS aspects (e.g., system 400 BS ) and network component (e.g., AMF, etc.) aspects (e.g., system 400 AMF ), the processor 410 BS (etc.), the communication circuit (e.g., 420 BS etc.) and the memory (e.g., 430 BSetc.) may be in a single device or may be included in different devices, such as part of a distributed architecture. In various aspects, different aspects of system 400 (e.g., 400 1 and 400 2 ) The signaling or messaging between can be generated by the processor 410 1 Generated by the communication circuit 420 1 Transmitted through a suitable interface or reference point (e.g., 3GPP air interfaces N1, N8, N11, N22, etc.), received by the communication circuit 420 2 Received, and processed by the processor 410 2 Processed. Depending on the type of interface, additional components (e.g., antennas, network ports, etc. associated with system 400 1 and 400 2 ) may participate in this communication.

[0092] In various aspects, one or more of information (e.g., system information, resources associated with signaling, etc.), features, parameters, etc. may be configured to the UE via signaling (e.g., access stratum (AS) signaling, non-access stratum (NAS)) originating from or directed through a base station (e.g., gNB, etc.) or other access points (e.g., via signaling generated by the processor 410 BS Generated by the communication circuit 420 BS Transmitted, received by the communication circuit 420 UE Received, and processed by the processor 410 UE Processed). Depending on the type of information, features, parameters, etc., the type of signaling employed and / or the exact details of the operations performed at the UE and / or BS during processing (e.g., signaling structure, handling of PDUs / SDUs, etc.) may vary. However, for convenience, such operations may be referred to herein as configuring information / features / parameters / etc. for the UE, generating or processing configuration signaling, or via similar terms.

[0093] Refer to Figure 5, a schematic diagram is shown in combination with the various aspects discussed herein, which shows different types of satellites that can be used as nodes in an NTN network and related characteristics. The different types of satellites include (i) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites, with a height between 7000 km and 25000 km, a cell size between 100 km and 1000 km, and a round-trip time of approximately 120 ms; (ii) Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, with a height between 300 km and 1500 km, a cell size between 100 km and 1000 km, and a round-trip time of approximately 41.77 ms; (ii) Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, with a height between 300 km and 1500 km, a cell size between 100 km and 1000 km, and a round-trip time of approximately 41.77 ms; (iii) High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) satellites, with a height between 8 km and 50 km, a cell size between 5 km and 200 km, and a round-trip time of approximately 14 ms; and (iv) Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, with a height of 35768 km, a cell size between 200 km and 3500 km, and a round-trip time of approximately 541.46 ms.

[0094] Various embodiments may employ satellites operating in transparent mode to forward signaling between the UE and the gNB, while in other embodiments, some or all of the gNB may be located at the satellite. Refer to Figure 6 , a schematic diagram is shown in combination with the various aspects discussed herein, which shows an exemplary transparent mode architecture for an NTN network. In Figure 6 , the UE 110 may be located in the cell 610 served by the NTN based on its terrestrial coordinates, whereby the UE 110 is connected via the satellite 620 and the gateway 630 to the gNB 640 (or as one or more gNBs 120) including one or more Distributed Units / Components (DUs) 642 and a Central Unit / Component (CU) 644 and the 5GC 130. The link between the UE 110 and the satellite 620 is referred to as the serving link, and the link between the satellite 620 and the gateway 630 is referred to as the feeder link. The satellite 620 may also have similar components as the system 400 shown and described as Figure 4 , including, for example, a processor 410, a communication circuit 420, and a memory 430.

[0095] The CU 644 can be configured for most of the active control planes on the UE side, and the DU 642 can be configured for a configurable user plane, which can configure the actual data transmission by itself. Core-based communication can also be used to establish the DU 642. The DU 642 and the CU 644 can be geographically separated from each other, such that for example one CU 644 can control multiple DU 642s. This enables one or more DU 642s to be placed closer to the UE 110 and connected to the CU 644 as an S1 interface, for example as a satellite-based gNB station, where at least a part of the gNB 120 is located on the satellite 620 as a system or device. In one aspect, the architecture can have components of the gNB 120 (e.g., the DU 642) located on the satellite 620 instead of placing the entire gNB 120 on the satellite 620. Thus, the components of the gNB can be directly connected to the processing circuitry of the satellite 620 while the gNB part on the ground plane is communicatively coupled to the CU 644. In these cases, the satellite 620 can be configured for inter-satellite communication with other satellites. Any one or more of the satellite / gNB 5GC architectures in this document's satellite / gNB 5GC architecture can be configured for various aspects / implementations, where the satellite 620 can communicate via a gateway 630 connected to the Internet. Such an architecture can enable 3GPP to further utilize the communication returned via the Internet in the coordinated connection between the satellite 620 and the core network 130.

[0096] Reference Figure 7 , a schematic diagram showing several exemplary NTN systems for beam coverage and transparent mode network architectures for satellites is presented in conjunction with the various aspects discussed herein. In Figure 7 , 710 and 720 respectively show the geostationary and geostationary mobile beam / cell system scenarios.

[0097] The Earth-fixed system 710 may include a first satellite 702 as a source satellite and a second satellite 704 as a target satellite. A group of UEs 110 (e.g., dozens, hundreds, thousands, or other number of multiple UEs) are within a fixed coordinate region 716 (represented by a rectangle) on the Earth (e.g., Toronto, a set of city coordinates, etc.). If the network 130 communicates with the UEs 110 via the gNB 120 in this coordinate region 716, the network knows that the UEs 110 are in the specific gNB 120 region based on the Tracking Area (TA) code. Thus, by using one or more protocols of the TA (e.g., Tracking Area Update), the gNB 120 can, for example, trigger the UEs 110 to update their location as notified by the network. Using a fixed-mode coordinate system, the coordinates on the Earth are fixed to be exactly the same over time, enabling the CN 130 to always communicate with this region and enabling the UEs 110 to communicate at a specific coordinate region. However, since the satellite (such as satellite 702) moves relative to the Earth, the gNB 120 must determine which satellite (704) is moving into this region to transmit data within this region.

[0098] In the NTN system 710, the beam moves with the satellite, so it is necessary to determine the movement of the satellites 702, 704 at the gNB 120. If the coverage itself is not for the entire area covered by the satellite but can be partially covered, the gNB 120 must exactly know when and at what point the coverage can occur (such as by talking to different gNBs) so that messages can actually be transmitted within this region. Once the satellite (e.g., 702) reaches a specific threshold (where the UEs 110 operate within its beam coverage area) and no beam intensity measurement value can be detected, it can move to a different area and the beam of another satellite 704 will take over this coverage area. The NTN 710 is called a "fixed Earth" beam / cell because here the satellite 702 or 704 is in a time period of always covering the same coordinates mapped by the Tracking Area (TA). It never tries to move its beam because the satellite itself continuously adjusts so that the beam is always formed in these coordinates.

[0099] For example, in the coordinates of a specific city (e.g., Toronto), the satellite always tries to focus on the geographical location of Toronto because it maps to these geographical locations in the Toronto coordinates and uses the angle of incidence (AOI) of the beam at a point reasonable for all UEs 110 at system 710 as the configuration point, and the satellite will continue to maintain it as it passes by, just to cover the Toronto area. Once the angle of incidence drops below a certain value or a specific threshold, the satellite will change its focus so that it has a specific focus on one coverage area at each TA. Once the satellite moves out of it, it tries to change the direction of the beam directly arriving at another coverage area to a different place based on a different tracking area TA.

[0100] The NTN system 720 includes terrestrial mobile coordinates, where as the satellites 702, 704 move, the beams themselves also move, which can be, for example, in the same area (e.g., Toronto) as the above example. As shown at 720, the satellites 702, 704 move and their corresponding beams 730, 740 move continuously with them. Although the satellite 702 with the beam 730 ultimately only covers a part of the coverage area (represented by the rectangular area), the inbound satellite 704 is considered to cover the remaining area with its beam 740.

[0101] Based on the type of architecture with which the core network 130 is communicating, the signaling load can vary significantly, potentially overloading network resources in different ways. For example, in a fixed scenario (e.g., NTN system 710), the beam 740 is concentrated over the coverage area 716 (e.g., Toronto, represented by the rectangle) until a certain AOI change occurs. Until then, since the UE 110 is initially connected to this beam 740, all signaling occurs on beam 740 and all backhaul communication between the core 130, gNB 120, and this satellite 704 occurs on satellite 702. Once the satellite coverage changes, all communication (including communication between devices on the core) must be updated to any communication between satellite 704 and gNB 120. Below the NTN system 710 is the resulting signal pattern of the satellite-changing signaling traffic in the backhaul communication of the core network 130's system. When satellite 704 inbound takes over beam 740 of satellite 702, two relatively large spikes occur in the signaling traffic because all UEs 110 within the cell coverage will now have to immediately switch to the cell covered by the inbound satellite 704. The spikes associated with beams 740 and 730 respectively (in the form of solid and dashed lines) include beam registration that occurs on the first satellite 702 and the other in signaling registration occurs on satellite 704. Approximately tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of devices 101 perform deregistration and then perform registration approximately simultaneously, which causes a significant spike in the backhaul traffic. The conventional traffic that occurs today is basically, for example, the ground node (TN) average (TN Avg.) that causes signal capacity, and the normal placement of the gNB 120 itself is done in a situation where it exceeds this signal capacity; and some gNB 120s have a definition based on how many devices the gNB can handle.

[0102] A second scenario where the use of a mobile beam NTN system 720 instead of generating spikes in the signaling traffic is that when the beam is transferred from beam 740 of satellite 702 to beam 730 of satellite 704, all devices 110 can be more continuously observed in the intermediate coverage area, where one UE may lose connection to a certain registration signaling and the UE entering the coverage of 730 will also receive a certain registration signaling as part of such handover (HO) or beam redirection. Instead of large spikes in the signaling traffic, there are more gradual bursts, but still much higher than the TN signaling average in the backhaul, even if not significant spikes.

[0103] In all these cases, the UE 110 must generate a large amount of traffic because it must lose its connection with the old gNB (e.g., 122-1) and it must establish a connection with the new gNB (122-2). Similar to low Earth orbit satellites, typically around 200 to 300 of them can be utilized and information about where the satellite is located, the specific time of day it reaches in terms of latitude / longitude on Earth can be stored in a very deterministic database, where the network can utilize this information to perform operations in the backend and where the overall signaling on the network can be reduced. However, being able to continue to utilize the UE 101 without causing as much (if any) disruption in the signaling traffic and still not generate these signaling spikes or these continuous heavy backend traffic bursts that exceed the TN Avg of all the heavy signaling traffic between the UE and the network is essential for maintaining communication, especially during the entire handover process discussed here.

[0104] Reference Figure 8 , in combination with the various aspects discussed herein, shows an exemplary NTN system architecture for beam coverage and transparent mode network architecture for satellites. Architectures 830-850 show different deployment configurations on NTN. Architecture 830 shows an NTN transparent mode architecture where the two satellites are connected to / are located on the same gNB 120 linked to multiple gateways and the same AMF or core network component. Architecture 840 shows an NTN transparent mode architecture where the two satellites are connected to / are located on independent gNBs (122-1, 122-2) and the same AMF or core network component. Architecture 850 shows an NTN transparent mode architecture where the two satellites are connected to / are located on independent gNBs (122-1, 122-2) and are connected to different 5GCs for each satellite.

[0105] Due to the transparent mode architecture, existing backend nodes can be used for handover. In terms of the on-board gNB, an Xn interface-based handover link or an ISL interface handover link can be utilized, where the call flow can be similar to today's basic mobility scenarios with as few changes as possible and similar to both fixed or mobile beams to facilitate adoption. With respect to Figure 7The discussed handover peak or burst solutions can be used at different nodes to exchange current UE and mobility profile information regarding the fixed earth coordinates of each of architectures 830 - 850, while leveraging satellite ephemeris information to create an advanced mobility profile. This information exchange will reduce the amount of unnecessary signaling between the UE and the network. In any case, in all aspects, consider the following examples herein: Example 1 (architecture 830) - The two satellites are located on the same gNB and the same AMF; Example 2 (architecture 840) - The two satellites are located on different gNBs and the same AMF; and Example 3 (architecture 850) - The two satellites are located on different gNBs and different AMF / SMF / UPFs.

[0106] In the first satellite NTN architecture 830 (Example 1), beam redirection from the outbound (or source) satellite node 802 to the new inbound (target) satellite node 804 is required. However, individually indicating to each UE 110 will be resource and latency constrained. The problem with current downlink control information (DCI) messages is that each UE 110 must individually obtain its own DCI message in order to reorient itself for communication back to a specific satellite. In a terrestrial node, the beam is managed in such a way that if there is a UE here and the new beam is pointed at the UE, the gNB 120 sends a layer 1 signaling message to trigger the antenna redirection to the beam point, based on which group pointing can be obtained.

[0107] In one aspect, the gNB 120, DU 642 (on satellite or terrestrial - based), or other gNB / core network components can be configured to initiate beam redirection of a UE in NTN from a first satellite 802 to a second satellite 804 based on a group configuration message of downlink control information (DCI). The DCI can be an RRC signaling group configuration message that, based on a beam redirection initiated by the gNB, initiates all UEs 110 (e.g., over a hundred) to simultaneously transfer their communication from the beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite. Then the group configuration message of the downlink control information is provided to the UEs 110, for example, by broadcast or multicast signaling.

[0108] In one aspect, the group DCI message as a group configuration message is configured to trigger these UEs 110 to move to an alternative beam of the inbound satellite 804 in parallel, together, simultaneously, or approximately simultaneously. The group configuration message or group DCI can be configured based on UE input regarding, for example, beam intensity measurements.

[0109] Alternatively or additionally, a group configuration message may be generated without any UE input or UE measurement report. A group DCI message for an earth-fixed beam may be sent in response to a change in the angle of incidence of the source satellite 802 or satisfaction of a threshold such as a specific AOI threshold or a threshold related to another beam parameter, the threshold indicating that communication needs to be handed over to the inbound satellite 804 / other gNBs (partially or fully on the satellite or on the ground) or a beam redirection occurs to keep the signaling traffic at a minimum and seamless communication.

[0110] In one aspect, a group DCI message for an earth-mobile beam may be sent in response to identifying at least partial overlap of two beams of satellites 802, 804. Alternatively or additionally, the network may further use ephemeris information to precisely determine when a beam change should be actively facilitated and provide a trigger for doing so in the group DCI message via an ephemeris database or measured / obtained ephemeris information. This removes the feedback from multiple UEs 110 approximately at the same time a handover occurs. The ephemeris data will also show that a large number of UEs are moving and such UE mobility information is considered in the decision to trigger a group handover to the inbound satellite.

[0111] In the second satellite NTN architecture 840 (Example 2), the two satellites are located on, connected to, or associated with the same CN 130 or AMF as different gNBs 122-1, 122-2 and the CN component 132. The handover call flow may cause any particular UE110 to perform a measurement of the network signal strength and provide a measurement report to the source gNB (e.g., gNB 122-1). Then the gNB 122-2 associated with the inbound satellite 804 becomes the target gNB to which all UEs 110 must move. This may require a large amount of registration information or additional messaging, where the messages are directed by the core and the core must know that all UEs 110 must move from the source gNB 122-1 to the target gNB 122-2 at that particular time point. Thus, the handover (HO) call flow is at least partially initiated by the UE or partially based on the UE, where the UE 110 sends measurement results to trigger the gNB 122-1 to further process the HO or HO request made by the UE 110. The source gNB 122-1 sends a handover message system, prepares everything regarding how to hand over the traffic to the target 122-2, and sends a reconfiguration message indicating the operation with the target gNB 122-2 and where to direct the communication. Then a random access procedure and the following call flow may be set up at the target gNB 122-2, and the target gNB 122-2 receives the message sent by the source 122-1 indicating that the UE has applied the configuration, as communication is established between the UE and the target gNB 122-2.

[0112] In one aspect, the source gNB 122-1 may have initiated a direct self-calculation of the handover decision and initiated beam redirection when it learned when the new incoming satellite 804 would arrive. The gNB 122-1 can prepare the configuration for all UEs 110 in the cell and the entire HO process. Thus, at the appropriate time, the gNB 122-1 can provide a group configuration message with DCI for HO to all UEs 110 within the coverage area of the outgoing source satellite 802.

[0113] In one aspect, the source gNB 122-1 can generate a DCI group configuration message with only the target gNB 122-2 information to save a significant amount of processing and signaling traffic for network capabilities. Once the group configuration message is sent to the UEs 110, all of these UEs 110 apply the new configuration without having to send a response.

[0114] In one aspect, the HO can be similar to an Xn handover, but there is no actual requirement for performing the entire operation as shown below. Figure 9 The handover in this scenario can be limited to a lighter process (compared to the current terrestrial Xn handover) to ensure that the ephemeris data can be utilized to move the UE onto the incoming satellite beam. UE measurements can be an additional feature for a better gNB-guided handover process, but are not absolutely required. The measurement step can be avoided to provide more resources to the network, thus supporting a more successful group handover. Although DCI can be used, the configuration of the target gNB 122-2 can be utilized alone to complete the group handover.

[0115] For an earth-fixed beam, the HO process can cause a major migration between the two gNBs, which means that the target gNB 122-2 should be able to handle this additional incoming handover traffic. Thus, the capabilities or definitions established with the target gNB 122-2 can be a consideration for the source gNB 122-1 in preparing the UEs 110 to receive the group configuration message. For an earth-mobile beam, the migration of the UEs 110 between the gNBs may be more gradual and will cause a gradual additional load on the target gNB 122-2 without such considerations. At the backend, the gNB 122-1 can, for example, further update the core 120 with the cell ID of the new gNB 122-2 onto which the UE has moved for effective paging.

[0116] Brief reference Figure 9, shows an exemplary call flow 900 of the Xn-based HO process as a 5G handover process. At 902, when the UE sends a measurement report and the source gNB detects the need for handover and makes a HO decision 904, it connects to the target gNB to start the handover. This includes XnAP: Handover Request, Admission Control 906 of the target gNB, XnAP: Handover Request Acknowledgment from the target gNB to the source gNB, RRC Reconfiguration from the source gNB to the UE, and then XnAP: Serial Number (SN) Status Transfer from this source to the target gNB. Then the source provides the data downlink 908 to the target, and the target performs data buffering 910. The UE further processes the handover and random access and connects to the target gNB when the RRC reconfiguration of the source is completed, while the communication tunnel has been switched to the target gNB. The NG-RAN sends a UE notification message to report the current RRC state of the UE (i.e., RRC Inactive state or RRC Connected state). When reporting the RRC state information, it includes the current UE location information (i.e., Tracking Area Identifier TAI + Cell Identifier). Then the backend call flow continues at 912 to switch or modify the backend CN components while maintaining the AMF and modifying the session with bearer requests and responses.

[0117] Figure 10 Shows a modification of the 5G HO call flow 1000, where the source gNB 122-1 may have initiated a direct self-calculation of the handover decision 1004 when learning when the new incoming satellite arrives and initiated beam redirection based on ephemeris information. The gNB 122-1 can prepare the configuration for all UEs 110 in the cell and the entire HO process. Thus, at the appropriate time, the gNB 122-1 can provide a group configuration message with DCI for HO to all UEs 110 within the coverage area of the outbound source satellite. The target gNB (T-gNB) configuration can include the cell ID of the target gNB so that the UEs 110 redirect their communication / antennas to it.

[0118] Briefly return to reference Figure 8 , the NTN architecture 850 includes: Instance 3 - These two satellites 802 and 804 are respectively located on different gNBs 122-1 and 122-2 and different CN components such as different AMF / SMF / UPF (e.g., AMF1 and AMF2, etc.). Here, not only information about adjacent nodes is obtained, but information about gNBs in transparent mode hundreds of miles away at a much farther distance than adjacent cells can be obtained, so as to make decisions on HO operations and the cell coverage area including these UEs 110 during the process of preparing for HO by the source gNB. This can be configured through inter-satellite communication between satellites because the gNB is at least partially on the satellite.

[0119] In one aspect, the information of the UE 110 on a cell must be updated with the core network (e.g., mainly at AMF->SMF->UPF) so that paging works effectively. Therefore, the modified group N2 handover procedure can be configured to apply to idle and connected UEs 110 as RRC idle and RRC connected UEs. The source gNB can configure the group registration message also used in the update process for the UE 110. A modified path switch request / acknowledgment response message flow using a group scheme is used, where ephemeris information and existing databases can be used to obtain information about the UE 110 from a specific NGRAN to trigger the call flow without using UE measurement reports and RRC reconfiguration. For example, the registration message can be a group registration configuration message for the UE 110 to update the registration to the NG core network components for the path switch request / acknowledgment response message flow based on the ephemeris data associated with the UE 110.

[0120] Reference Figure 11 , shows an exemplary N2-based HO call flow 1100 for the preparation phase. Here, the UE transmits uplink and sends data along the gNB and the core network for transmission through the network. The HO decision is made by the source gNB and the handover is transmitted to the source (S) AMF, where the transmission AMF selection is made and transmitted to the target (T) AMF in the Namf_communicaiton_createdUEContextRequest message. The Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext request is sent to the SMF, and then the SMF performs UPF selection. An N4 session modification request is issued to the UPF session anchor, which responds with an N4 session modification response. Then the SMF provides an N4 session establishment request to the T-UPF, which responds with an N4_Establishment response. After that, the SMF provides an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSMContext response to the T-AMF, which performs PDU HO response supervision and provides a HO request to the T-gNB, which further provides a HO request ACK. The T-AMF provides an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdatesSMContextRequest to the SMF, which in turn provides an N4Session_Modification request (Req) to the S-UPF, which further responds with an N4Session_Modification response. Then the SMF provides an Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdatesSMContext response to the T-AMF, which further provides a Namf_communication_CreateUEContext response to the S-AMF.

[0121] Figure 12 Further shows an exemplary call flow 1200 of N2-based HO in the execution phase. The S-AMF provides a HO command to the source gNB, which further provides the HO command to the UE and provides an UL RAN status transfer message to the S-AMF. Then the S-AMF receives the Namf-Communication_N2InfoNotify to the S-AMF, and the S-AMF then sends an ACK. Subsequently, the T-AMF sends a DL RAN status transfer message to the T-gNB, and the data is tunnelled between the S-UPF and the S-gNB as DL data. Direct data forwarding and indirect data forwarding occur between the source gNB and the target gNB through the CN components and the T-UPF as shown in the figure. At 1257, RRC reconfiguration, random access, RRC reconfiguration complete response, and HO confirmation messages are transmitted between the UE and the target gNB. The data is transmitted downstream and then upstream, while notifications are exchanged. The T-gNB sends a HO notify NamfCommunication N2Info Notify to the T-AMF, and the T-AMF sends an ACK to the S-AMF. The S-AMF provides a Nsmf_PDUSession_ReleaseSMContext request to the SMF, and then the T-AMF sends a Nsmf PDUSessionUpdatesSMContext request message to the SMF. The T-UPF sends a N4 session modification request to the SMF, and the SMF then sends a response and then sends a Nsmf_PDUSession_UpdateSM context request to the T-AMF. The downlink of the data occurs during the UE registration process, where the UE context is released from the S-AMF to the source gNB.

[0122] The process can be further modified to be able to handle all UEs 110 in a cell.

[0123] In terms of the earth moving beam, the process is frequently invoked and the S-NGRAN and T-NGRAN need to identify the UEs currently in the S-satellite beam coverage and the T-satellite beam coverage and perform handover in the core without having to initiate any or various UE processes.

[0124] Reference Figure 13 , shows an exemplary modified call flow 1300 of N2-based HO in the execution phase. Here, Figure 12Message 1257 has been replaced by a group configuration message 1307 with downlink control information. Then the UE 110 can be configured to provide or not provide a HO confirmation message, where the HO can further flow, thus eliminating a large surge of signaling that may be caused by hundreds of thousands of UEs during each satellite HO.

[0125] Cell selection and reselection in the NTN network are significantly affected by the deployment architecture of satellite nodes and high mobility.

[0126] As indicated in 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 38.821 Appendix A, the ephemeris data contains the orbital trajectories of the satellite network. This data provides information on the Earth-relative position coordinates of the satellite position based on the time of day and other useful information. The information in this database allows for deterministic knowledge of when the satellite will be within the observation range of the UE and when it will be unavailable. Propagating this information to the UE is very beneficial for the UE in the cell selection process, and in various embodiments, this information can be provided to the UE or gNB via one of various techniques (e.g., via NAS, AS signaling, etc.).

[0127] The availability of satellite ephemeris data at the UE or gNB can be beneficial for cell selection / reselection on the NTN network.

[0128] In various embodiments, RRC idle / inactive mode UEs can use additional assistance information (e.g., using UE location information, satellite ephemeris information, additional parameters, etc.) for cell selection / reselection involving the NTN network in addition to the existing system. Using an Earth-fixed tracking area can avoid frequent Tracking Area Updates (TAUs). Various embodiments can provide NTN cell-specific information to the UE via a System Information Block (SIB) or via other techniques discussed herein.

[0129] For example, in RRC connected mode operation, one or more solutions can be adopted to address the following issues in the NTN network: (i) reducing service interruptions caused by large propagation delays during handovers (e.g., especially in GEO transparent mode architectures, etc.); (ii) addressing frequent handovers and high handover rates caused by satellite movement (e.g., especially in LEO NTN, etc.); (iii) improving handover robustness due to small signal strength variations in beam overlap regions; and (iv) compensating for propagation delay differences in the UE measurement window between cells from different satellites (e.g., especially in LEO NTN, etc.).

[0130] As another example, additional mobility enhancements may be suitable for addressing NTN networks. Additional conditional handover (CHO) trigger conditions (e.g., based on location / time, etc.) can be adopted, and measurement-based thresholds and events can be adapted to the NTN environment. Enhancements to the mobility configuration (e.g., to support broadcast configurations, etc.) can potentially be adopted. Enhancements to the measurement configuration / reporting (e.g., pre-triggered-based solutions) can be adopted. Additionally, enhancements can be adopted to ensure service continuity for mobility from TN to NTN and from NTN to TN systems.

[0131] For each of these scenarios (including cell selection / reselection associated with the embodiments discussed herein), the same solutions identified for the terrestrial mobile cell scenarios can also be applied to the terrestrial fixed cell scenarios, or different solutions can be applied to the fixed / mobile scenarios.

[0132] Various aspects of NTN cell selection and reselection are discussed herein. In conjunction with various embodiments, these aspects include using additional available information from the ephemeris, which the network can broadcast to the UE to improve cell selection and reselection in NTN-only scenarios. Additional aspects and embodiments elaborate on cell selection when the TN node is within the NTN coverage and potential solutions that can be adopted. Additional aspects discuss the case of cell selection and reselection for cells covering international boundaries.

[0133] Additional Parameters for Cell Selection and / or Reselection in NTN

[0134] Section 7.3.1.6 of TR 38.821 discusses the possibility of using ephemeris data and UE location information for cell selection and reselection. Using its location and ephemeris data, the UE can calculate additional parameters with a certain accuracy, such as satellite configuration (LEO, GEO, etc.), distance from the satellite, elevation angle, or some additional parameters that can assist in cell selection criteria. Considering the potential inaccuracies in determining these parameters and the potential issues in transmitting the entire database to the UE in pre-loaded form (via uSIM) or via broadcast based on SIB (due to overhead), it would be beneficial if the network includes these additional parameters of satellite mobility and coverage information in a certain format in the initial cell selection broadcast information to the UE. Additionally, UE location information calculation may impose power constraints on the UE while generating privacy constraints (if provided to the network). Even if location information cannot be excluded, it would be very useful for the network to provide the UE with ephemeris data and related offsets.

[0135] Thus, in various embodiments, the non-terrestrial network can provide the UE with additional measurement offset information (e.g., based on ephemeris, etc.) to improve cell selection and reselection.

[0136] A similar precedent for such network-based offsets for UEs in cell selection / reselection that currently exists is the High-Speed State Parameter in the System Information Block (SIB). This will help solve the problems of not only stationary UEs in the NTN network but also UEs with potentially high mobility (e.g., speeds up to 500 Kmph as agreed in the Chair's Opinion of 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) Working Group 2 (WG2) (RAN2) Meeting #111-e). As an example, various embodiments can adopt a new SIB2 parameter to bias configurations such as GEO, LEO, or HAPS in a format similar to High-Speed State Parameters. For the case of cell reselection, these additional parameters can be added to the event-based A or B measurement configurations.

[0137] Thus, in various embodiments, the new offsets discussed herein can be added to existing broadcast mechanisms and measurement configurations to enhance UE cell selection and reselection in non-terrestrial networks.

[0138] Alternative parameters that can be adopted in various embodiments include one or more of the following: distance from the satellite, cell load, quality of service objectives or requirements, elevation angle, time of feeder link change, common delay, differential delay, UE speed, or UE mobility state.

[0139] The distance from the satellite or related information can assist in cell selection / reselection. In various NTN configurations (e.g., where both GEO and LEO satellites exist, etc.), the distance or indication of the satellite configuration will help the UE select the satellite with the least propagation delay. The network can also prioritize satellite configurations based on cell load, quality of service required by the UE application, or various other criteria for reselection between GEO, LEO, etc., or terrestrial nodes.

[0140] Similar to the distance, the elevation angle is an alternative parameter that can be used to identify the most suitable network configuration.

[0141] Feeder link changes (e.g., based on ephemeris), if indicated sufficiently in advance, can allow for better cell selection based on the time of satellite change. For example, if there is very little dwell time on the current satellite and the inbound satellite is approaching, an idle UE may be better off connecting to the inbound satellite rather than the existing satellite.

[0142] Timing parameters such as those based on common and / or differential delay or configuration (latency) can allow for configuration based on the common delay provided by the SIB, and in some embodiments, also allow the UE to select a link based on QoS objectives or requirements.

[0143] The UE can also be a useful parameter. For cases involving mobility on the UE (e.g., especially in cases such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) scenarios in an aircraft or high-speed train with a relative speed of 100 Kmph or more), the UE speed relative to the satellite speed can be a relevant parameter.

[0144] In various embodiments, these additional parameters can be provided to the UE for utilization in any of a variety of ways.

[0145] The scenarios where these parameter adjustments may be beneficial are cases where multiple NTN configurations may overlap with each other. One such exemplary scenario is a case where a GEO configuration may overlap with a LEO configuration of the same operator.

[0146] As suggested by the above exemplary scenario, 3GPP NTN does not rule out deployment scenarios where multiple NTN configurations may overlap with each other.

[0147] In such cases, there is currently no way for the network to indicate to the UE which of the two configurations should be prioritized, unless frequency is used. But using frequency prioritization may not always result in the best scenario in such cases because LEO has a transient nature. In such cases, a prioritization integer between different NTN configurations would be very beneficial for the UE from both a measurement perspective and a performance perspective. Therefore, in various embodiments, a prioritization field can be signaled to the UE to indicate the priority associated with or between NTN configurations. The prioritization field becomes even more useful when there are terrestrial neighbors of these NTN cells, as explained in more detail below.

[0148] Therefore, in various embodiments, for NTN, an in-NTN prioritization flag can be employed to assist UE cell selection and cell reselection.

[0149] Various embodiments can employ a prioritization flag and / or a residence order that can help the UE select the best network and avoid pinging (frequent reselection) between TN and NTN networks.

[0150] In terms of the hybrid coverage area, one issue that the UE may see is that the large coverage area of NTN will result in dozens or even hundreds of potential terrestrial neighboring cells. TR 38.821 proposes using UE location information to identify the area where the UE is present and using location-based reselection. However, this is power-consuming because the UE needs to continuously monitor its location to identify whether it enters or leaves a specific fixed or mobile beam. Therefore, location-based reselection results in power consumption of the UE in the conventional cell selection and reselection scenarios. Thus, in various embodiments, a beam-based neighboring cell list can be provided for NTN UEs to avoid the loss of power consumption associated with location measurement.

[0151] Although location information is power-consuming for the conventional cases of cell selection and reselection, it is very useful at international boundaries. For existing terrestrial network deployments, cellular radio waves can be controlled in such a way that they do not penetrate deeply into the roaming country. However, in a satellite network with a large cell size, such restrictions cannot be easily applied. In such cases, geographical location announcements of home and roaming cells can be very useful, and such information can be broadcast to the UE to ensure that the satellite can limit the coverage and form a boundary between the home and roaming country networks. Satellite ephemeris data can help the network ensure that additional information can be broadcast to the UE when the satellite approaches the location boundary or when the beam starts to cross the international boundary, as the case may be.

[0152] NTNs cannot easily form international boundary delineation unless they have a multi-beam configuration and the beams are narrow. Thus, at international boundaries, to mitigate the impact of the large cell size, the network can broadcast (e.g., using ephemeris data) the geographical location boundaries of home and roaming cells to the UE to ensure effective cell selection and reselection.

[0153] In other aspects, group messaging can be configured in the case of a topology adaptation scenario for an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node for Rel-17 3GPP eIAB (i.e., for exchange only between network nodes). This aspect of group messaging is useful in a number of other scenarios and is not limited to IAB nodes either. In cases such as Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) or mobile gNBs (NTN networks and mobile IAB nodes), the network transmitting messages to more than one UE at a time can be configured and is useful as discussed herein, including dynamically moving a group of UEs from broadcast to multicast or handover. Such a handover of a group of UEs from one mobile gNB to another can be dynamic to handle signaling storms, etc.; transmitting messages to many NB-IoT devices (with or without responses). In most such cases of mobile gNBs, network configuration changes occur rather frequently (e.g., for LEO satellites, the visibility duration to UEs ranges from 5 minutes to 20 minutes), resulting in a large amount of signaling in terms of messages and their corresponding responses whenever the satellite node changes. This is especially true when the satellite architecture uses geostationary or geostationary mobile satellite beams. For such cases, a general broadcast or multicast signaling scheme / framework is needed to ensure that all connected UEs, inactive UEs, and sometimes idle UEs move to a common network configuration and resume operation based on the target network of the target gNB.

[0154] There are multiple possibilities for group messaging in 3GPP that can serve as various aspects: A: Configuration messages can be sent to all UEs in the group to establish some feedback mechanism or secure guaranteed delivery mechanism; B: Since a larger amount of signaling response traffic (ACK storms) will need to be processed (especially when an ACK-based scheme is selected due to a larger cell size), there will be capacity constraints, especially for the NTN and IAB nodes that come into play. In another aspect, an ACK-less group messaging scheme can be configured according to the various aspects herein.

[0155] Reference Figure 14 , an exemplary satellite-based NTN system of gNB-A and gNB-B is shown, which can be a g-NB satellite or a gNB on-board node in a transparent mode architecture as discussed herein or fully integrated in the NTN network. Different implementations for group-based messages (such as group configuration messages with control information) can be configured via the gNB or processed by the UE to receive via broadcast or multicast communication.

[0156] Figure 14Including considering different aspects of ACK-based messages for RRC, where the RRC group messages for broadcast / multicast configuration come from a control node (IAB donor / parent node / NTN satellite / MBMS CU, etc.). When there are more than 100 devices, this ACK-based G-RNTI RRC message may be problematic. Therefore, the modified G-RNTI-based RRC reconfiguration message can be configured in the call or processing flow.

[0157] In one aspect, a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI) can be used to encode and decode the group configuration messages discussed herein. This can be provided for the reconfiguration operation, which is shown at the group of operations or call flow 1406 between the UE 110 and the gNB-B 1402. Here, each UE can provide a separate response, such that there are multiple response messages as the RRC reconfiguration is completed.

[0158] In one aspect, the call flow 1408 includes a specific UE in the UE 110 to which a random access identifier is given, such that together they can identify their identity (ID) in the RRC reconfiguration message as in the call flow 1406. Each UE can issue or not issue a response individually, and this can be configured, for example, in an MBMS network. Any UE within the cell area 1403 can apply the message with the identifier or G-RNTI, but if there are any differences between the current configuration the UE has and the new configuration that comes in as a group, then in response, each UE can be individually configured to ensure that any specific individual configuration is handled through the response. Thus, while considering the independent UE case, the signaling traffic can still be reduced without requiring responses from all UEs in the coverage area. The call flow 1406 is also an example of an RRC reconfiguration message as a group RNTI message to configure DCI based on the G-RNTI, such that if, for example, 500 UEs receive the group RNTI message, each UE can respond individually as in 1406, but does not have to respond in 1408. Therefore, only those UEs that may consider they need to handle a special configuration, only those UEs in the UE 110 will respond by sending the configuration as in the UE-specific configuration response.

[0159] Another aspect can be seen in 1410, where there is no RRC message configured to generate a response, and all UEs apply this constraint and send a single ACK or RLC-level message, which is a smaller-level ACK than what we obtained at 1406. For example, an L1 / L2 ACK using a bit sequence can be performed.

[0160] Reference Figure 15, which shows an exemplary satellite-based NTN system as gNB-A and gNB-B, which can be a g-NB satellite or a gNB on-board node in a transparent mode architecture as discussed herein or fully integrated in the NTN network. Different implementations for group-based messages (such as group configuration messages with control information) can be configured via the gNB or processed by the UE to receive via broadcast or multicast communication. Figure 15 The call flow of can be non-Ack, without ACK, or without requiring or triggering an acknowledgement response, except for specific configuration cases at the UE.

[0161] Here, a common configuration message can be utilized at the implementation of call flow 1506. The common configuration message can be configured to handle the connection between different nodes (gNB / (R)AN) and ensure all UEs with cell coverage, while implementing UE-specific configuration as in Figure 14 1408. The common configuration message can be based on, for example, G-RNTI, where the UE can decode based on a random access identifier or G-RNTI.

[0162] In other aspects, call flow 1508 can configure a system information block (SIB) in the group configuration message provided to the UE discussed in this disclosure. The SIB can include common configuration information with the target gNB common configuration, which can include a cell ID or related information such as TA, and is automatically applied to all UEs 110 for redirection or HO to them. The SIB configuration can be SIB X for the satellite network and is continuously broadcast in a specific coverage area or when the old / source satellite leaves the coverage and the new inbound satellite enters the coverage. Similar to Figure 15 and Figure 14 the processing flow at 1408, only some UEs will respond based on any differences or the need for UE-specific configuration for UEs with such specific configuration.

[0163] In other aspects, call flow 1510 can configure a paging message for the UE 110 as at least a part of the group configuration message. The paging message can be provided to some UEs 110 so that they obtain a message for updating their configuration for the new satellite. The paging message can be a sequential group paging message with a new ID (as an indication to trigger the UE 110 to request a new configuration), which is transmitted by both the source gNB and the target gNB to the overlapping area of the coverage area. This can reduce the peak load and distribute the signaling load over time based on UE activity. Similar to Figure 14 and Figure 15 in other processing flows, some UEs will apply the configuration and respond back, and other UEs will only apply the configuration. The signaling here can have the meaning of an interleaved distribution for applying the new configuration entering from the network.

[0164] Reference Figure 16 illustrates an exemplary satellite-based NTN system as gNB-A and gNB-B, which can be a g-NB satellite or a gNB on-board node in a transparent mode architecture as discussed herein or fully integrated in the NTN network. Different implementations for group-based messages (such as group configuration messages with control information) can be configured via the gNB or processed by the UE to receive via broadcast or multicast communication. Figure 16 An example of the call flow of can be based on aspects similar to those in Figures 14 to 15 and consider delay- or storage-based aspects utilizing a pre-configured delay timer such that a general configuration message based on G-RNTI is delayed based on any time period after receiving the general configuration message as the group configuration message described herein. This configuration is stored upon receipt and is thus applied after the delay provided in the group configuration message at call flow 1606. At 1608, the delay is location-based. When the satellite reaches a certain location, UE 110 can apply the configuration received together or simultaneously just like a delay timer, but the delay is a location-based delay and not just dependent on time; both can also be configured or considered here. At 1610, it can be applied (instead of being signaled dynamically) according to a pre-configured list provided to UE 110 based on one or more of a time period, a date, or the position of the inbound satellite relative to the UE itself.

[0165] Thus, call flows 1606 - 1610 are delay-dependent storage-based configurations. The network gNB sends the group configuration message in advance because it already knows the data and knows how long the satellite will be in coverage for a certain number x of UEs and may have previously sent reconfigurations (general configuration or similar group configuration messages) to all those UEs 110, where the UEs will store and automatically apply it at the appropriate time (e.g., when detecting the inbound satellite ID).

[0166] Reference Figure 17 illustrates an example of a processing flow 1700 for group handover for geostationary and mobile beams according to each aspect described in the present disclosure.

[0167] At 1710, beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite is initiated for a plurality of UEs in a non-terrestrial network (NTN).

[0168] At 1720, a group configuration message of downlink control information is generated, which initiates the plurality of UEs to simultaneously transmit communication from the beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection.

[0169] At 1730, a group configuration message for providing downlink control information to the plurality of UEs is provided.

[0170] Reference Figure 18 , examples of processing flows for group handovers for geostationary and mobile beams are shown in accordance with each aspect described in the present disclosure.

[0171] At 1810, the processing flow includes receiving a group configuration message that initiates the plurality of UEs in the coverage area of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) to simultaneously transfer communication from a first satellite to a second satellite.

[0172] At 1820, the processing flow includes redirecting the communication via the second satellite based on the downlink control information of the group configuration message.

[0173] Although the methods are shown and described above as a series of actions or events, it should be understood that the order of such shown actions or events should not be construed as limiting. For example, some actions may occur in a different order and / or concurrently with other actions or events other than those shown and / or described herein. Additionally, not all of the shown actions may be required to implement one or more aspects or embodiments disclosed herein. Further, one or more of the actions shown herein may be carried out in one or more separate actions and / or phases. In some embodiments, the methods shown above may be implemented in a computer-readable medium using instructions stored in a memory. Many other embodiments and variations are possible within the scope of the present disclosure as protected by the claims.

[0174] As used in this specification, the term "processor" may generally refer to any computing processing unit or device, including but not limited to including a single-core processor; a single processor with software multithreading execution capabilities; a multi-core processor; a multi-core processor with software multithreading execution capabilities; a multi-core processor with hardware multithreading technology; a parallel platform; and a parallel platform with distributed shared memory. Additionally, a processor may refer to an integrated circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a field-programmable gate array, a programmable logic controller, a complex programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions and / or processes described herein. A processor may utilize nanoscale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecule- and quantum-dot-based transistors, switches, and gates in order to optimize space usage or enhance the performance of a mobile device. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

[0175] An embodiment may include a subject matter, such as a method, an apparatus for performing actions or blocks of the method, and at least one machine-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a machine (e.g., a processor having a memory, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.), cause the machine to perform actions of a method or an apparatus or a system for concurrent communication using multiple communication technologies according to the embodiments and examples described herein.

[0176] A first embodiment is a base station that includes: a memory; and a processor configured to: initiate a beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite for a plurality of UEs in a non-terrestrial network (NTN); generate a group configuration message of downlink control information that initiates the plurality of UEs to simultaneously transmit communication from a beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection; and provide the group configuration message of the downlink control information to the plurality of UEs.

[0177] A second embodiment may include the first embodiment, wherein the processor is further configured to: generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information in response to beam intensity measurement values from the plurality of UEs satisfying a specific threshold of the beam flow measurement values.

[0178] A third embodiment may include the first embodiment or the second embodiment, wherein the processor is further configured to: generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information in response to a change in the angle of incidence (AOI) for one or more geostationary beams of the first satellite satisfying a specific AOI threshold to initiate a handover of the plurality of UEs to the second satellite.

[0179] A fourth embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the third embodiment, wherein the processor is further configured to: generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information in response to an identification that at least a part of the coverage areas of the first satellite and the second satellite overlap for earth-mobile beams of the first satellite and the second satellite.

[0180] A fifth embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment, wherein the processor is further configured to: generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information based on ephemeris data related to at least one of the plurality of UEs, the first satellite, or the second satellite.

[0181] The sixth embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the fifth embodiment, and further includes a next-generation Node B (gNB), where the gNB includes: at least one of the first satellite or the second satellite; and a distributed unit, the distributed unit is connected to a processor component of at least one of the first satellite or the second satellite, and includes a user plane, and the user plane is configured to transmit data between a user equipment (UE) and the processing component of at least one of the first satellite or the second satellite.

[0182] The seventh embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the sixth embodiment, where the processor is further configured to: provide the group configuration message of the downlink control information to the plurality of UEs, and the group configuration message includes the configuration of the target gNB of the second satellite.

[0183] The eighth embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the seventh embodiment, where the processor is further configured to: provide the configuration of the target gNB of the second satellite to the distributed unit of the target gNB at the second satellite, where the plurality of UEs are within the coverage area of at least one of the first satellite or the second satellite, and the second satellite includes an inbound satellite to the coverage area of the first satellite.

[0184] The ninth embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the eighth embodiment, where the processor is further configured to: generate a determination of whether to configure the handover of the plurality of UEs to a target gNB based on ephemeris data related to the plurality of UEs, at least one of the first satellite or the second satellite without UE feedback; and generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information based on the determination to simultaneously indicate the handover command of the plurality of UEs to the target gNB of the second satellite.

[0185] The tenth embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the ninth embodiment, where the processor is further configured to: provide one or more cell identifiers (IDs) of the plurality of UEs to a target gNB or a core network component.

[0186] The eleventh embodiment may include any one or more of the first embodiment to the tenth embodiment, where the processor is further configured to: initiate the beam redirection and generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information without providing a radio resource control reconfiguration message to the plurality of UEs or without considering the measurement report message of the plurality of UEs.

[0187] The twelfth embodiment may include any one or more of the first to eleventh embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: provide a group registration configuration message to the plurality of UEs to update registration to a next-generation (NG) core network component for a path switch request / acknowledgment response message flow based on ephemeris data associated with the plurality of UEs.

[0188] The thirteenth embodiment is a user equipment (UE), which includes: a memory; and a processor configured to: receive a group configuration message that initiates simultaneous communication of a plurality of UEs in a coverage area of a non-terrestrial network (NTN) from a first satellite to a second satellite; and redirect the communication via the second satellite based on downlink control information of the group configuration message.

[0189] The fourteenth embodiment may include the thirteenth embodiment, wherein the processor is further configured to be in a radio resource control (RRC) idle mode or an RRC connected mode when receiving the group configuration message.

[0190] The fifteenth embodiment may include any one or more of the thirteenth to fourteenth embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: transmit registration to a target next-generation node B (gNB) of the second satellite according to a handover command of the group configuration message for handover to the target gNB, wherein the handover command of the group configuration message initiates handover of the plurality of UEs from a source gNB to the target gNB.

[0191] The sixteenth embodiment may include any one or more of the thirteenth to fifteenth embodiments, wherein the group configuration message includes a broadcast or multicast radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message based on a group radio network temporary identifier (G-RNTI).

[0192] The seventeenth embodiment may include any one or more of the thirteenth to sixteenth embodiments, wherein the group configuration message includes a broadcast or multicast radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message as an unacknowledged (no ACK) message.

[0193] The eighteenth embodiment may include any one or more of the thirteenth to seventeenth embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: provide an acknowledgment message based on whether a UE-specific configuration is requested in response to receiving the group configuration message, wherein the acknowledgment message includes a UE-specific configuration request.

[0194] The nineteenth embodiment includes any one or more of the thirteenth to eighteenth embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: provide an acknowledgement (ACK) message in response to receiving the group configuration message, the ACK message including a radio link control (RLC) ACK or a layer 1 ACK.

[0195] The twentieth embodiment includes any one or more of the thirteenth to nineteenth embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine the configuration of a target next-generation node B (gNB) of the second satellite based on a system information block (SIB) of the group configuration message.

[0196] The twenty-first embodiment includes any one or more of the thirteenth to twentieth embodiments, wherein the group configuration message includes a group paging message having an ID of a source gNB from the first satellite, the group paging message triggering a reconfiguration request to initiate a handover to a target gNB of the second satellite in an overlapping area of a coverage area associated with the first satellite and the second satellite.

[0197] The twenty-second embodiment includes any one or more of the thirteenth to twenty-first embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive an additional group paging message from the target gNB to effect the handover of the UE and the plurality of UEs to the target gNB of the second satellite.

[0198] The twenty-third embodiment includes any one or more of the thirteenth to twenty-second embodiments, wherein the processor is further configured to: store one or more general configurations of the group configuration message in the memory; and process the group configuration message based on at least one of a delay timer, time, or location.

[0199] The twenty-fourth embodiment is a baseband processor, the baseband processor including: a memory; a processor configured to: initiate a beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite for a plurality of UEs in a non-terrestrial network (NTN); generate a group configuration message of downlink control information, the group configuration message initiating the plurality of UEs to simultaneously transmit communication from a beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection; and provide the group configuration message of the downlink control information to the plurality of UEs.

[0200] The twenty-fifth embodiment includes the twenty-fourth embodiment, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the group configuration message of the downlink control information in response to at least one of the following: the beam stream measurement values from the plurality of UEs satisfy a predetermined threshold of the beam stream measurement values, the change in the angle of incidence (AOI) for one or more earth-fixed beams of the first satellite satisfies a predetermined AOI threshold to initiate handover of the plurality of UEs to the second satellite, or the identification that at least a part of the coverage areas of the first satellite and the second satellite overlap for the earth-mobile beams of the first satellite and the second satellite.

[0201] The twenty-sixth embodiment may include an apparatus that includes means or methods for performing any of the operations described in the first to twenty-fifth embodiments.

[0202] The twenty-seventh embodiment may include a machine-readable medium that stores instructions for execution by a processor to perform any of the operations described in the first to twenty-fifth embodiments.

[0203] The twenty-eighth embodiment may include a baseband processor that includes: a memory interface; and a processing circuit configured to perform any of the operations described in the first to twenty-fifth embodiments.

[0204] The twenty-ninth embodiment may include a user equipment (UE) configured to perform any of the operations described in the first to twenty-fifth embodiments.

[0205] In addition, the various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. As used herein, the term "article of manufacture" is intended to cover a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., EPROMs, cards, sticks, key drives, etc.). Additionally, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable media" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data. Additionally, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium having one or more instructions or codes that are operable to cause a computer to perform the functions described herein.

[0206] A communication medium embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other structured or unstructured data in a data signal, such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism, and includes any information delivery or transmission medium. The term "modulated data signal" or signal refers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media.

[0207] Exemplary storage media can be coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage media. In an alternative, the storage media can be integrated with the processor. Additionally, in some aspects, the processor and the storage media can reside in an ASIC. Further, the ASIC can reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage media can reside in the user terminal as discrete components. Additionally, in some aspects, the processes and / or actions of a method or algorithm can reside on a machine-readable medium and / or a computer-readable medium as code and / or instructions in one or any combination or collection thereof, and can be incorporated into a computer program product.

[0208] In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been described in connection with various embodiments and the corresponding drawings, it should be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiments to perform the same, similar, alternative, or substitute functions of the disclosed subject matter without departing from the embodiments. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but should be construed in accordance with the breadth and scope of the following appended claims.

[0209] Particularly with respect to the various functions performed by the above-described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), unless otherwise indicated, the terms used to describe such components (including references to "means") are intended to correspond to any component or structure that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., functionally equivalent), even if not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the functions in the exemplary implementations of the present disclosure shown herein. Additionally, while a particular feature has been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, for any given or particular application, such feature can be combined with one or more other features of one or more other implementations, which may be desirable and advantageous.

Claims

1. A base station, comprising: Transceiver; Memory; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured, when executing instructions stored on the memory, to cause the base station to: Initiating beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite for a plurality of user equipment UEs in a non-terrestrial network NTN; generating a group configuration message of downlink control information, the group configuration message initiating the plurality of UEs to simultaneously transmit communications from the beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection; as well as transmitting, via the transceiver, the group configuration message of downlink control information to the plurality of UEs; generating a group registration configuration message to update registration with a core network component for a path switch request / confirmation response message flow based on ephemeris data associated with the plurality of UEs; as well as The group registration configuration message is transmitted to the plurality of UEs via the transceiver.

2. The base station of claim 1, wherein the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated in response to beam strength measurement values ​​from the plurality of UEs satisfying a specific threshold of the beam strength measurement values.

3. The base station of claim 1, wherein the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated in response to a change in one or more earth-fixed beam angles of incidence (AOI) for the first satellite satisfying a specific AOI threshold.

4. The base station of claim 1 , wherein the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated in response to identifying at least partial overlap of a coverage area of ​​the first satellite and a coverage area of ​​the second satellite by earth moving beams of the first satellite and the second satellite.

5. The base station of claim 1, wherein the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated based on ephemeris data related to at least one of the plurality of UEs, the first satellite, or the second satellite.

6. The base station according to claim 1, further comprising a distributed unit connected to a processor component of the first satellite; wherein the group configuration message of the downlink control information includes a configuration of a target base station associated with the second satellite, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the base station to provide the configuration of the target base station to the distributed unit of the target base station; and wherein the plurality of UEs are within at least one of a coverage area of ​​the first satellite or a coverage area of ​​the second satellite, and Wherein the second satellite comprises an inbound satellite to the coverage area of ​​the first satellite.

7. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the base station to: generating a determination whether to configure handover of the plurality of UEs to a target base station associated with the second satellite based on ephemeris data associated with at least one of the plurality of UEs, the first satellite, or the second satellite without UE feedback; and Based on the determination, the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated to simultaneously indicate handover commands of the multiple UEs to the target base station.

8. The base station of claim 1, wherein the beam redirection is initiated and the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated without providing a radio resource control reconfiguration message to the multiple UEs or without considering measurement report messages of the multiple UEs.

9. A baseband processor, comprising: A processor, the processor being configured to: Initiating beam redirection from a first satellite to a second satellite for a plurality of user equipment UEs in a non-terrestrial network NTN; generating a group configuration message of downlink control information, the group configuration message initiating the plurality of UEs to simultaneously transmit communications from the beam of the first satellite to an alternative beam of the second satellite based on the beam redirection; as well as providing the group configuration message of downlink control information for transmission to the plurality of UEs; generating a group registration configuration message for the plurality of UEs to update registration with a core network component for a path switch request / confirmation response message flow based on ephemeris data associated with the plurality of UEs; The group registration configuration message is provided for transmission to the plurality of UEs.

10. The baseband processor of claim 9, wherein the group configuration message of downlink control information is generated in response to at least one of: beam strength measurements from the plurality of UEs satisfying a predetermined threshold of the beam strength measurements, a change in an angle of incidence AOI for one or more earth-fixed beams of the first satellite satisfying a predetermined AOI threshold to initiate handover of the plurality of UEs to the second satellite, or identification of at least partial overlap of coverage areas of the first satellite and the second satellite for earth-mobile beams of the first satellite and the second satellite.

Images