Method and apparatus for MBS-key distribution and traffic protection

Abstract

MBS key distribution includes processing group information associated with an MB session context received from an AF. At least a portion of the group information includes a TMGI. Processing multiple session join requests received from multiple UEs. Each of the multiple session join requests includes the TMGI and is associated with the MB session context. Encoding a request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB‑SMF. Processing a response associated with the MB session context received from the MB‑SMF. The response includes a key derived for each UE in a portion of the multiple UEs using a UE ID and the TMGI. Encoding a DL NAS message and an N2 message for the multiple UEs and a base station, respectively. The DL NAS message and the N2 message include the derived keys.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, including key distribution and traffic protection. Background Art

[0002] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is generally referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs), which is generally referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP radio access network (RAN) in the LTE system, the base station may include a RAN node such as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as an evolved Node B, an enhanced Node B, an eNodeB, or an eNB) and / or a radio network controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device referred to as a user equipment (UE). In the fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes may include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also called next generation Node B or g NodeB (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN uses radio access technologies (RATs) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN may include a global system for mobile communications (GSM), an enhanced data rate for GSM evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), and / or an E-UTRAN, which provides access to communication services through a core network. Each RAN in the RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT, and NG-RAN implements 5G RAT. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement 5G RAT.

[0004] The frequency bands for 5G NR can be divided into two different frequency ranges. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) includes frequency bands below 6 GHz, some of which may be used by previous standards but can potentially be expanded to cover potential new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 have a shorter range but higher available bandwidth than the frequency bands in FR1. The skilled person will recognize that these frequency ranges, which are provided by way of example, may vary from time to time or region to region. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit(s) in a reference number refers to the drawing number that first introduces the element.

[0006] Figure 1 An exemplary service-based architecture is shown in accordance with certain embodiments.

[0007] Figure 2 An exemplary unicast-based architecture is shown in accordance with certain embodiments.

[0008] Figure 3 An exemplary unicast-based architecture is shown in accordance with certain embodiments.

[0009] Figure 4 An exemplary architecture according to certain embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 5 Examples of point-to-point delivery and point-to-multipoint delivery are shown according to certain embodiments.

[0011] Figure 6 A communication flow diagram for MBS-Key distribution according to certain embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 A flow chart of an exemplary method for distributing MBS keys is shown.

[0013] Figure 8 A flow chart of an exemplary method for distributing MBS keys is shown.

[0014] Fig. 9 A flow chart of an exemplary method for distributing MBS keys is shown.

[0015] Fig.10 A system according to one embodiment is shown.

[0016] Fig.11 Infrastructure equipment according to one embodiment is shown.

[0017] Fig.12 A platform according to one embodiment is shown.

[0018] Fig.13 An apparatus according to one embodiment is shown.

[0019] Fig.14 An exemplary interface according to one embodiment is shown.

[0020] Fig.15 Components according to one embodiment are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Regarding existing and current security requirements associated with wireless networks, SA WG3 (SA3) Specification Technical Report (TR) 33.850 includes multiple key issues. For example, the issue referred to as Key Issue #2 specifies that 5GS will support confidentiality protection, integrity protection, and anti-replay protection for multicast / broadcast services (MBS) traffic. In another example, the issue referred to as Key Issue 3 specifies that key distribution and MBS traffic will be protected.

[0022] Similarly, in the SA2 specification TR 23.757, the issue known as Key Issue #3 is for authorization of multicast communication services for 5G, which includes the following security-related issues: 1. Define and study how to support the necessary level of authorization for UE to access multicast communication services; and 2. How UE can join / leave (including authorized or revoked access) multicast communication services.

[0023] The present disclosure provides various ways to securely distribute keys to protect MBS traffic. Specifically, service flows must be encrypted when delivered to UEs. However, initially, Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 An exemplary system architecture related to the principles described herein is discussed.

[0024] Exemplary System Architecture

[0025] In certain embodiments, the 5G system architecture supports data connectivity and services, enabling deployment to use technologies such as network function virtualization and software defined networks. The 5G system architecture can utilize service-based interactions between control plane network functions. Separating user plane functions from control plane functions allows independent scalability, evolution, and flexible deployment (e.g., centralized locations or distributed (remote) locations). Modular function design allows functional reuse, and flexible and effective network slicing can be achieved. Network functions and their network function services can interact with another NF and its network function services directly or indirectly via a service communication agent. Another intermediate function can help route control plane messages. The architecture minimizes the dependency between AN and CN. The architecture may include an aggregated core network with a public AN-CN interface that integrates different access types (e.g., 3GPP access and non-3GPP access). The architecture may also support a unified authentication framework, stateless NFs with decoupling of computing resources from storage resources, capability exposure, concurrent access to local and centralized services (to support low-latency services and access to local data networks, user plane functions may be deployed near the AN), and / or roaming in the visited PLMN with both home-routed traffic as well as local breakout traffic.

[0026] The 5G architecture may be defined as service-based, and the interactions between network functions may include a service-based representation, where a network function (e.g., AMF) within the control plane enables other authorized network functions to access its services. The service-based representation may also include a point-to-point reference point. The reference point representation may also be used to show the interactions between NF services in a network function described by a point-to-point reference point (e.g., N11) between any two network functions (e.g., AMF and SMF).

[0027] Figure 1 A service-based architecture 100 in 5GS according to one embodiment is shown. As described in 3GPP TS23.501, the service-based architecture 100 includes NFs such as NSSF 108, NEF 110, NRF 114, PCF 112, UDM 126, AUSF 118, AMF 120, SMF 122 to communicate with UE 116, (R)AN 106, UPF 102, and DN 104. NFs and NF services can communicate directly (referred to as direct communication) or indirectly (referred to as indirect communication) via SCP 124. Figure 1 Also shown are corresponding service-based interfaces including Nutm, Naf, Nudm, Npcf, Nsmf, Nnrf, Namf, Nnef, Nnssf and Nausf and reference points N1, N2, N3, N4 and N6. Figure 1 Some exemplary functions provided by the NF shown.

[0028] The NSSF 108 supports functions such as: selecting a set of network slice instances to serve the UE; determining the allowed NSSAIs and, if required, the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs; determining the configured NSSAIs and, if required, the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs; and / or determining the set of AMFs to be used to serve the UE, or a list of candidate AMFs, possibly by querying the NRF based on the configuration.

[0029] NEF 110 supports the exposure of capabilities and events. NF capabilities and events can be securely exposed by NEF 110 (e.g., for third parties, application functions, and / or edge computing). NEF 110 can store / retrieve information as structured data using a standardized interface (Nudr) to UDR. NEF 110 can also securely provide information to the 3GPP network from external applications, and can provide application functions to securely provide information (e.g., expected UE behavior, 5GLAN group information, and service-specific information) to the 3GPP network, where NEF 110 can authenticate and authorize and help limit application functions (AF). NEF 110 can provide internal-external information conversion by converting between information exchanged with AF 128 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 110 converts between AF service identifiers and internal 5G core information (such as DNN and S-NSSAI). NEF 110 can handle the masking of network and user sensitive information of external AF according to network policies. NEF 110 may receive information from other network functions (based on the exposed capabilities of other network functions) and store the received information as structured data using a standardized interface to UDR. The stored information may be accessed by NEF 110 and re-exposed to other network functions and application functions, and used for other purposes such as analysis. For external exposure of services related to a specific UE, NEF 110 may reside in the HPLMN. Depending on the operator agreement, NEF 110 in the HPLMN may have an interface with the NF in the VPLMN. SCEF+NEF may be used for service exposure when the UE is able to switch between EPC and 5GC.

[0030] The NRF 114 supports the service discovery function by receiving NF discovery requests from NF instances or SCPs and providing information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances or SCPs. The NRF 114 may also support P-CSCF discovery (a special case of SMF discovery of AF), maintain NF profiles of available NF instances and their supported services, and / or notify subscribed NF service consumers or SCPs of newly registered / updated / deregistered NF instances together with their NF services. In the context of network slicing, based on the network specific implementation, multiple NRFs may be deployed at different levels, such as PLMN level (NRF configured with information of the entire PLMN), shared slice level (NRF configured with information belonging to a network slice set), and / or slice specific level (NRF configured with information belonging to S-NSSAI). In the context of roaming, multiple NRFs may be deployed in different networks, wherein the NRF in the visited PLMN (referred to as vNRF) is configured with information of the visited PLMN, and wherein the NRF in the home PLMN (referred to as hNRF) is configured with information of the home PLMN, referenced by the vNRF via the N27 interface.

[0031] PCF 112 supports a unified policy framework to govern network behavior. PCF 112 provides policy rules for control plane functions to implement them. PCF 112 accesses subscription information related to policy decisions in a unified data repository (UDR). PCF 112 can access a UDR located in the same PLMN as the PCF.

[0032] The UDM 126 supports the generation of 3GPP AKA authentication credentials, user identity handling (e.g., storage and management of subscription permanent identifiers (SUPI) for each user in the 5G system), unhiding of privacy-preserving subscription identifiers (SUCI), access authorization based on subscription data (e.g., roaming restrictions), UE's service NF registration management (e.g., storing services AMF for the UE, storing services SMF for the UE's PDU session storage), service / session continuity (e.g., by maintaining SMF / DNN allocation for ongoing sessions), MT-SMS delivery, lawful interception functions (especially in outbound roaming situations where the UDM is the only contact point for the LI), subscription management, SMS management, 5G LAN group management processing, and / or external parameter configuration (expected UE behavior parameters or network configuration parameters). To provide such functionality, the UDM 126 uses subscription data (including authentication data) that can be stored in the UDR, in which case the UDM implements the application logic and may not require internal user data storage, and several different UDMs can serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM 126 may be located in the HPLMN of the subscribers it serves and may access information of UDRs located in the same PLMN.

[0033] AUSF 118 supports authentication for 3GPP access and untrusted non-3GPP access. AUSF 118 can also provide support for network slice-specific authentication and authorization.

[0034] AMF 120 supports termination of RAN CP interface (N2), termination of NAS (N1) for NAS encryption and integrity protection, registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception (for AMF events and interface to LI system), transmission of SM messages between UE and SMF, transparent proxy for routing SM messages, access authentication, access authorization, transmission of SMS messages between UE and SMSF, SEAF, location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE and LMF and between RAN and LMF, EPS bearer ID allocation for interworking with EPS, UE mobility event notification, control plane CIoT 5GS optimization, user plane CIoT 5GS optimization, configuration of external parameters (expected UE behavior parameters or network configuration parameters) and / or network slice-specific authentication and authorization. Some or all of the AMF functions may be supported in a single instance of AMF 120. Regardless of the number of network functions, in some embodiments, only one NAS interface instance per access network between UE and CN is terminated at one of the network functions that implements at least NAS security and mobility management. AMF 120 may also include policy-related functions.

[0035] In addition to the above functions, AMF 120 may also include the following functions to support non-3GPP access networks: support N2 interface with N3IWF / TNGF, on which some information (e.g., 3GPP cell identity) and procedures (e.g., handover related) defined on 3GPP access may not be applicable, and non-3GPP access specific information not applicable to 3GPP access may be applied; support NAS signaling with UE through N3IWF / TNGF, where some procedures supported by NAS signaling through 3GPP access may not be applicable to untrusted non-3GPP (e.g., paging) access; support authentication of UE connected through N3IWF / TNGF; management of mobility, authentication and separate security context states of UE connected via non-3GPP access or via 3GPP access or non-3GPP access at the same time; support coordinated RM management context valid on 3GPP access and non-3GPP access; and / or support dedicated CM management context for UE connected via non-3GPP access. It may not be necessary to support all of the above functions in the instance of network slicing.

[0036] SMF 122 supports session management (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes), UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization) (where the UE IP address can be received from the UPF or from an external data network), DHCPv4 (server and client) and DHCPv6 (server and client) functions, functions for responding to address resolution protocol requests and / or IPv6 neighbor solicitation requests based on local cache information of Ethernet PDU (e.g., SMF responds to ARP and / or IPv6 neighbor solicitation requests by providing a MAC address corresponding to the IP address transmitted in the request), selection and control of user plane functions (including controlling UPF to proxy ARP or IPv6 neighbor discovery or forwarding all ARP / IPv6 neighbor solicitation traffic to SMF for Ethernet PDU sessions), traffic steering configuration at UPF to route traffic to the appropriate destination, 5G VN group management (e.g., maintaining the topology of the PSA UPFs involved, in PSA Establish and publish N19 tunnels between UPFs, configure traffic forwarding at UPF to apply local switching, and / or N6-based forwarding or N19-based forwarding), terminate interfaces towards policy control functions, lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces to LI systems), charge for data collection and support billing interfaces, control and coordinate billing data collection at UPF, terminate the SM part of NAS messages, downlink data notification, initiator of AN-specific SM information transmitted to AN via AMF over N2, determination of SSC mode for session, control plane CIoT 5GS optimization, header compression, act as I-SMF in deployments where I-SMF can be inserted / removed / relocated, configure external parameters (expected UE behavior parameters or network configuration parameters), P-CSCF discovery for IMS services, roaming functions (e.g. handling local implementation to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN), charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN) and / or lawful interception (in VPLMN for SM events and interface to LI system), interaction with external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authentication / authorization of external DN and / or issuing instructions to UPF and NG-RAN to perform redundant transmission on N3 / N9 interface. Some or all of the SMF functions may be supported in a single instance of SMF. However, in some embodiments, not all functions need to be supported in an instance of a network slice. In addition to these functions, SMF 122 may also include policy-related functions.

[0037] SCP 124 includes one or more of the following functions: indirect communication; delegated discovery; message forwarding and routing to destination NF / NF service; communication security (e.g., authorization of NF service consumer to access NF service manufacturer API), load balancing, monitoring, overload control, etc.; and / or optionally interacting with UDR to resolve UDM group ID / UDR group ID / AUSF group ID / PCF group ID / CHF group ID / HSS group ID based on UE identity (e.g., SUPI or IMPI / IMPU). Some or all of the SCP functions may be supported in a single instance of SCP. In some embodiments, SCP 124 may be deployed in a distributed manner and / or more than one SCP may be present in the communication path between NF services. SCP may be deployed at PLMN level, shared slice level, and slice-specific level. Operator deployment may be left to ensure that SCP can communicate with relevant NRFs.

[0038] UE 116 may include a device with radio communication capabilities. For example, UE 116 may include a smart phone (e.g., a handheld touch screen mobile computing device that can be connected to one or more cellular networks). UE 116 may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), a pager, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a wireless handheld device, or any computing device including a wireless communication interface. UE is also referred to as a client, a mobile phone, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a user terminal, a mobile unit, a mobile station, a mobile user, a subscriber, a user, a remote station, an access agent, a user agent, a receiver, a radio device, a reconfigurable radio device, or a reconfigurable mobile device. UE 116 may include an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. IoT UE may utilize technology (e.g., M2M, MTC, or mMTC technology) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a PLMN, other UEs using ProSe or D2D communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. M2M or MTC data exchange may be a machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure). The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0039] The UE 116 may be configured to be connected or communicatively coupled to the (R)AN 106 via a radio interface 130, which may be a physical communication interface or layer configured to operate with a cellular communication protocol such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a push-to-talk (PTT) protocol, a cellular PTT (POC) protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, etc. For example, the UE 116 and the (R)AN 106 may use a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via a protocol stack including a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, and an RRC layer. DL transmissions may be from the (R)AN 106 to the UE 116, and UL transmissions may be from the UE 116 to the (R)AN 106. The UE 116 may also communicate directly with another UE (not shown) using a side link for D2D, P2P, and / or ProSe communication. For example, the ProSe interface may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0040] The (R)AN 106 may include one or more access nodes, which may be referred to as base stations (BSs), node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), next generation node Bs (gNBs), RAN nodes, controllers, transmission reception points (TRPs), etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations, which provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The (R)AN 106 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access to a UE with a service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access to a UE with a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access to a UE associated with the femto cell (e.g., a UE in a closed subscriber group (CSG), a UE of a user in a home, etc.).

[0041] Although not shown, multiple RAN nodes (such as (R)AN 106) may be used, with an Xn interface defined between two or more nodes. In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 116 in connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in connected mode between one or more (R)AN nodes. The mobility support may include context transfer from an old (source) serving (R)AN node to a new (target) serving (R)AN node; and control of a user plane tunnel between an old (source) serving (R)AN node and a new (target) serving (R)AN node.

[0042] The UPF 102 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the DN 104, and a branch point to support multi-host PDU sessions. The UPF 102 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane portion of policy rule enforcement, lawful interception of packets (UP collection); traffic usage reporting, QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), uplink traffic validation (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 102 may include an uplink classifier for supporting routing of traffic flows to a data network. The DN 104 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The DN 104 may include, for example, an application server.

[0043] Currently, there are two 5G NR MBS architecture options. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The first of two architecture options, referred to as unicast-based architectures, is shown. Specifically, Figure 2 A transport-only architecture 200 of a unicast-based architecture is shown, which may not include any new network functions (NFs). Specifically, the transport-only architecture 200 includes AF 202, NEF / PCF 204, SMF 206, AMF 208, UPF 210, RAN node 212, and RAN node 214. Figure 2 The corresponding service-based interfaces and reference points N5 / Nnef, N2, N3, N4, N6, N7 and N11 are also shown.

[0044] Figure 3The service layer architecture 300 of a unicast-based architecture is shown, which includes Multi-Service Switching Forum-C (MSF-C) and MSF-U for MBS session management. Specifically, Figure 3 A service layer 300 based on a unicast architecture is shown, which may not include any new network functions (NFs). Specifically, the service layer architecture 300 includes NEF 302, 5G multicast service function (i.e., 5G MSF 308) (including MSF control plane (MSF-C 304) and MSF user plane (MSF-U 306)), PCF 310, UPF 312, SMF 314, AMF 316, RAN node 318, RAN node 320, MSF client 322, MSF client 324, and MSF client 326. Figure 3 The corresponding service-based interfaces and reference points xMB / MB2-C, xMB / MB2-U, Npcf, N2, N3 / MB-N3, N4, N6, N7, N11 and N33 are also shown.

[0045] Figure 4 A second of the two architectural options 400 is shown, which includes dedicated MB network functionality. Figure 4 The architecture introduces MBSF (i.e., control plane) and MBSU (i.e., user plane), as well as dedicated MB-SMF and MB-UPF functions. In addition, Figure 4 Including UE 402, NG-RAN 404, MB-UPF 406, MB-UPF 408, AMF 410, MB-SMF 412, NEF 414, MBSF416, PCF 418 and AF 420. Figure 4 The corresponding service-based interfaces and reference points Uu, N2, N3, N4, N6, N7, N11, N29, N30, N33, Ny and NxMB-U are also shown. It is worth noting that the principles and solutions described in this article can be respectively related to Figure 2 / Figure 3 and Figure 4 Both architecture option 1 and architecture option 2 are utilized as shown.

[0046] In addition, the principles and solutions described herein are applicable to various MBS traffic delivery models. For example, two options for MBS traffic delivery models: 1. Point-to-point (PTP) delivery method (represented by arrows 502a and 502b); and 2. Figure 5 The point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery method (indicated by arrows 504a and 504b) is shown in FIG. 1 . To configure PTP and PTM, Figure 5It includes 5G CN 522, UPF 524, UPF 526, NG-RAN MBS capability 516, NG-RAN MBS capability 518 and NG-RAN non-MBS capability 520. In addition, Figure 5 Including UE 506, UE 508, UE 510, UE 512 and UE 514.

[0047] It is worth noting that the PTP delivery method includes the following two options: 1. Keys are configured uniquely for each UE. For example, UE 506 and UE 508 may be configured with different keys so that if one of UE 506 or UE 508 is compromised, the keys of the included UEs will not be in danger of being used for the other UE; and 2. The keys configured for UE 506 and UE 508 are (or may be) the same. It is worth noting that the second option may have a lower level of security. Similarly, Figure 5 As shown, the PTM delivery method utilizes the same key for UE 510 and UE 512 because the stream including the key is sent in the same packet.

[0048] Regarding the Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) security function, the current security mechanism used in the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer can also be reused in the PTP mode. At the same time, a new security mechanism for PTP can also be designed. For example, this new security mechanism may include the following configuration details: 1. Security credentials can be provided via the Access Stratum (AS) process, or provided in the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) process (MBMS session join / start); 2. The keys for different UEs for a specific MBMS can be unique or public; and 3. The encryption method can be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0049] In addition, this new security mechanism may include the following UE-side processing details: 1. The UE may acquire the MBMS security configuration of the MBMS service of interest via connected mode; and 2. The UE may store the MBMS security configuration and use it to verify the security of the received MBMS service.

[0050] Three possible detailed solutions are provided here and may be particularly applicable to TR 23.757 Solution #2, clause 6.2.2. However, these principles (i.e., the three detailed solutions) may also be easily applicable to other solutions. Specifically, the security credentials used for these solutions may include the following: 1. The key used for decryption; 2. The algorithm to be used; and 3. Other security credentials required to decrypt the stream.

[0051] For example, regarding security credentials, the encryption algorithm may be Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and the credentials may include (key, AES, null value). If IDE (RFC6507) is used, the credentials may include (key, IDE, gNB_ID information).

[0052] It is worth noting that MB-SMF is used herein as an example of a function that provides delivery credentials, but this only includes one option. For example, an authentication server function (AUSF) can be used to provide similar functionality using the principles described herein. In addition, symmetric encryption or asymmetric encryption can be used for each of the three detailed solutions described herein.

[0053] As an overview of the three detailed solutions described in this document, the following may apply: 1. The first detailed solution may include: a. For a specific MBMS, the keys used for PTP and PTM may be different; b. The current PDCP keys may be reused for PTP; c. New keys may be created for PTM; 2. The second detailed solution may include: For a specific MBMS, the keys used for PTP and PTM may be different; b. A new unique key may be created for PTP; c. A new key may be created for PTM; and 3. The third detailed solution may include: For a specific MBMS, the keys used for PTP and PTM may be the same; and b. A new public key may be created for both PTP and PTM.

[0054] Figure 6 A communication flow diagram for MBS key distribution is shown, which is further discussed with respect to each of the following three detailed solutions. As shown in the figure, Figure 6Including UE 602, NG radio access network (i.e., NG-RAN 604), access and mobility management function (i.e., AMF 606), MB session management function (i.e., MB-SMF 608), MB user plane function (i.e., MB-UPF 610), network exposure function / MBSF (i.e., NEF / MBSF 612) and application function (i.e., AF 614). It is worth noting that steps 1 to 5 can be processes compared to the SA2 process. In step 0, UE 602 can perform a registration process and a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment (i.e., as shown in block 616). The NEF / MBSF 612 may establish a new MB session context (as shown in boxes 640 and 642), and the AF may notify members in the group (e.g., UE 602, NG-RAN 604, etc.) of various group information (e.g., temporary mobile group identity (TMGI), HL MC address provided to the UE—see GCSE TS 23.468), as shown by arrows 620 to 626 and box 628.

[0055] In step 6 and as represented by arrow 630, the UE 602 may indicate its interest in joining the MB session by sending a UL NAS MB Session Join Request (TMGI) message, which may be forwarded by the NG-RAN 604 to the AMF 606. The AMF 606 may then store the TMGI in its UE context.

[0056] In step 7, if the AMF 606 does not already have an MB Session Context for the TMGI received (in step 6), the AMF may select the MB-SMF 608 for the TMGI by querying the Network Repository Function (NRF). Continuing in step 7, an MB Session Request (TMGI, AMF ID) message may be sent from the AMF 606 to the MB-SMF 608 to announce the AMF's interest in the MB Session (as represented by arrow 632). Continuing in step 7, when the MB-SMF 608 has returned an MB Session Response () message (as represented by arrow 634), the AMF 606 may create an MB Session Context in the 'Inactive' state for the TMGI (as represented by block 644).

[0057] AMF 606 may store the TMGI and NG RAN ID of the originating node of the N2 message (in step 6) in the AMF 606 MB session context. In step 8, AMF 606 may create a DL NAS MB Session Join Response () message and piggyback it on the N2 MB Session Join (NGAP ID, TMGI) message (as represented by arrows 636a, 636b, and 638). NG-RAN 604 may store the TMGI in the UE context in the NG-RAN.

[0058] As an overview of the first detailed solution, the keys used for PTP and PTM are different. In PTP mode, the current NAS keys can be reused and the gNB (i.e., base station) can use KNASenc to encrypt MBS packets. In addition, in PTM mode, the MB-SMF can generate keys for each UE subscribed to a specific MBS and deliver the keys to such UEs in the DL NAS message "MB Session Join Accept".

[0059] The communication flow for the PTM mode of the first detailed solution may be as follows: 1. Steps 1 to 5 may be the same as the SA2 process (and as described above with respect to Figure 61. In step 6, the UE may indicate its interest in joining the MB session by sending a UL NAS MB Session Join Request message (e.g., the message may include the TMGI). The NG-RAN may then forward the NAS message to the AMF. The AMF may then store the TMGI in its UE context. 2. In step 7, if the AMF does not yet have an MB session context for the TMGI received (in step 6), the AMF may select the MB SMF for the TMGI by querying the NRF. The MB Session Request message (i.e., the message may include the TMGI, AMF ID) may be sent to the MB SMF to declare the AMF's interest in the MB session. The MB-SMF may use the UEID and TMGI to derive keys for PTM for each UE and gNB (or base station). When the MB-SMF has returned an MB Session Response () message, credentials for both the gNB and the UE may be included. The AMF may create an MB session context in an 'inactive' state for the TMGI. It is noteworthy that the UE ID may be a SUCI, a general public subscription identifier (GPSI), or other ID. However, the UE ID must be able to uniquely identify a UE; and 4. In step 8, the AMF may store the TMGI and NG RAN ID of the source node of the N2 message (in step 6) in the AMF MB session context. The AMF may create a DL NAS MB Session Join Response () message and piggyback the message on the N2 MB Session Join message (for example, the message may include the NG Application Protocol ID (NGAP ID), TMGI). The NG-RAN may store the TMGI and the UE's security credentials in the UE context in the NG-RAN. The UE receives the DL NAS message and stores the UE security credentials. In addition, the NG-RAN receives the N2 message and stores the security credentials of the gNB. When the MBS session starts, the gNB may use a key to encrypt the MBS packet, and the UE may use the received key to decrypt the MBS packet. Such a key may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0060] As an overview of the second detailed solution, the keys for PTP and PTM are different. In PTP mode, MB-SMF generates a unique key for MBS for each UE and delivers the key to the UE in the DL NAS message "MB Session Join Accept". In PTM mode, MB-SMF generates the same key for a group of UEs subscribed to a specific MBS and delivers the key to the UE in the DL NAS message "MB Session Join Accept".

[0061] The communication flow for both PTP and PTM modes of the second detailed solution may be as follows: 1. Steps 1 to 5 may be the same as the SA2 procedure (and as Figure 6 As shown). The UE performs a registration process and PDU session establishment, the NEF / MBSF establishes a new MB session context, and the AF notifies the members in the group of various group information (e.g., TMGI, HL MC address); 2. In step 6, the UE indicates its interest in joining the MB session by sending a UL NAS MB session join request message (e.g., the message may include TMGI). The NG-RAN forwards the NAS message to the AMF, and the AMF stores the TMGI in its UE context; 3. In step 7, if the AMF does not yet have an MB session context for the TMGI received (in step 6), the AMF selects the MB SMF for the TMGI by querying the NRF. The MB Session Request message (e.g., the message may include TMGI, AMF ID) is sent to the MB SMF to declare the AMF's interest in the MB session. The MB-SMF uses the UE ID and TMGI to derive keys for PTP and PTM, respectively, for each UE and gNB (or base station). When the MB-SMF has returned an MB Session Response () message, credentials for both the gNB and the UE are included. The AMF creates an MB session context in 'inactive' state for the TMGI. It is worth noting that the UE ID can be SUPI, GPSI or other ID. However, the UE ID must be able to uniquely identify a UE. In step 8, the AMF stores the TMGI and NG RAN ID of the source node of the N2 message (in step 6) in the AMF MB session context. The AMF creates a DL NAS MB Session Join Response () message and piggybacks the message on the N2 MB Session Join message (for example, the message may include NGAP ID, TMGI). The NG-RAN stores the TMGI and the UE's security credentials in the UE context in the NG-RAN. The UE receives the DL NAS message and stores the UE security credentials. The NG-RAN also receives the N2 message and stores the security credentials of the gNB. When the MBS session starts, the gNB can use the key to encrypt the MBS packets, and the UE can use the received key to decrypt the MBS packets. Such keys can be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0062] In a variation of the second detailed solution (referred to herein as Solution 2.1), in PTP mode, the MB-SMF generates the same key for a group of UEs subscribing to a specific MBS. This implementation may include advantages and disadvantages. For example, an advantage may be that it is simpler for the MB-SMF to manage the MBS keys because the total amount of keys is much less. On the contrary, a disadvantage may be a lower security level. Since a group of UEs share the same key for one MBS, theft by any UE may result in key leakage. In addition, when symmetric encryption is used, the MB-SMF may generate the same key for a group of UEs for both PTP and PTM modes.

[0063] As an overview of the third detailed solution, the keys used for PTP and PTM are the same. Because the packets to a group of UEs are the same in PTM mode, the MB-SMF generates the same key for each UE for a specific MBS and delivers the key to the UE in the DL NAS message "MB Session Join Accept". This key is used in both PTP and PTM modes.

[0064] The communication flow for both PTP and PTM modes of the third detailed solution may be as follows: 1. Steps 1 to 5 are the same as the SA2 process (and as Figure 6As shown). The UE performs a registration process and PDU session establishment, the NEF / MBSF establishes a new MB session context, and the AF notifies the members in the group of various group information (e.g., TMGI, HL MC address); 2. In step 6, the UE indicates its interest in joining the MB session by sending a UL NAS MB session join request message (e.g., the message may include TMGI). The NG-RAN forwards the NAS message to the AMF, and the AMF stores the TMGI in its UE context; 3. In step 7, if the AMF does not yet have an MB session context for the TMGI received (in step 6), the AMF selects the MB SMF for the TMGI by querying the NRF. The MB Session Request message (e.g., the message may include TMGI, AMF ID) is sent to the MB SMF to declare the AMF's interest in the MB session. The MB-SMF uses the UE ID and TMGI to derive keys for both PTP and PTM for each UE and each gNB (or base station). When the MB-SMF has returned an MB Session Response message, credentials for both the gNB and the UE are included. The AMF creates an MB session context in 'inactive' state for the TMGI. It is worth noting that the UE ID can be a SUPI, GPSI or other ID. However, the UE ID must be able to uniquely identify a UE; and 4. In step 8, the AMF stores the TMGI and NG RAN ID of the source node of the N2 message (in step 6) in the AMF MB session context. The AMF creates a DL NAS MB Session Join Response () message and piggybacks the message on the N2 MB Session Join message (for example, the message may include NGAPID, TMGI). The NG-RAN stores the TMGI and the UE's security credentials in the UE context in the NG-RAN. The UE receives the DL NAS message and stores the UE security credentials. The NG-RAN also receives the N2 message and stores the security credentials of the gNB. When the MBS session starts, the gNB can use the key to encrypt the MBS packet, and the UE can use the received key to decrypt the MBS packet. Such a key can be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0065] Figure 7 A flow chart of a method 700 for distributing MBS keys is shown. In block 702, the method 700 processes group information associated with a multicast / broadcast (MB) session context received from an application function (AF). At least a portion of the group information may include a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI). In block 704, the method 700 processes a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments (UEs). Each of the plurality of MB session join requests may include a TMGI and be associated with an established MB session context.

[0066] In block 706, the method 700 encodes an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function (MB-SMF) in response to processing multiple UE MB session join requests. In block 708, the method 700 processes an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF. The MB session response may include a key derived for each of the plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of the plurality of UEs and a TMGI for each of the plurality of UEs. In block 710, the method 700 encodes a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message for transmission to each of the plurality of UEs and an N2 message for transmission to a base station. Both the DL NAS message and the N2 message may include the derived key.

[0067] The method 700 may include delivering each derived key to the portion of the plurality of UEs via point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery. Each derived key may be the same for each UE in the portion of the plurality of UEs. The method 700 may also include reusing one or more NAS keys and delivering to a second, different portion of the plurality of UEs via point-to-point (PTP) delivery. The method 700 may also include the derived key and the NAS key being different.

[0068] The method 700 may also include that the UE ID is unique for each UE in the portion of UEs and includes one of a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI). The method 700 may also include that the derived key is configured to allow the base station to encrypt the MBS packet for transmission and allow the portion of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packet. The method 700 may also include that the derived key utilizes symmetric encryption.

[0069] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method 800 for distributing MBS keys is shown. In box 802, the method 800 processes group information associated with a multicast / broadcast (MB) session context received from an application function (AF). At least a portion of the group information may include a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI). In box 804, the method 800 processes multiple MB session join requests received from multiple user equipment (UE). Each of the multiple MB session join requests may include a TMGI and be associated with an established MB session context. In box 806, the method 800 encodes an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function (MB-SMF) in response to processing the multiple UE MB session join requests.

[0070] In block 808, method 800 processes an MB session response associated with an MB session context received from an MB-SMF. The MB session response may include a first set of keys derived for each of a first portion of UEs in a plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of a first portion of UEs in a plurality of UEs and a TMGI, and a second set of keys derived for each of a second different portion of UEs in a plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of a second portion of UEs in a plurality of UEs and a TMGI. In block 810, method 800 encodes a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message for transmission to each of a plurality of UEs and an N2 message for transmission to a base station. Each encoded DL NAS may include a key from the first set of keys or the second set of keys, and the N2 message may include a key from the first set of keys or the second set of keys.

[0071] The method 800 may also include delivering the second set of keys to the second portion of the UEs via point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery, and each key in the second set of keys is the same. The method 800 may also include delivering the first set of keys to the first portion of the UEs via point-to-point (PTP) delivery, and each key in the first set of keys is uniquely associated with one of the first portion of the UEs. The method 800 may also include the first set of keys being different from the second set of keys. The method 800 may also include delivering the first set of keys to the first portion of the UEs via point-to-point (PTP) delivery, and each key in the first set of keys is the same.

[0072] The method 800 may include the UE ID being unique for each UE in the plurality of UEs and including one of a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI). The method 800 may include each key in the first set of keys and each key in the second set of keys being configured to allow the base station to encrypt the MBS packet for transmission and allow a corresponding UE in the plurality of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packet. The method 800 may also include at least a portion of the first set of keys or the second set of keys utilizing asymmetric encryption.

[0073] Fig. 9A flow chart of a method 900 for distributing MBS keys is shown. In box 902, the method 900 processes group information associated with a multicast / broadcast (MB) session context received from an application function (AF). At least a portion of the group information may include a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI). In box 904, the method 900 processes multiple MB session join requests received from multiple user equipments (UEs). Each of the multiple MB session join requests may include a TMGI and be associated with an established MB session context. In box 906, the method 900 encodes an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function (MB-SMF) in response to processing the multiple UE MB session join requests.

[0074] In block 908, method 900 processes an MB session response associated with an MB session context received from an MB-SMF. The MB session response may include a key derived for each of the multiple UEs using a UE ID associated with each of the multiple UEs and a TMGI. Each derived key may be delivered via point-to-point (PTP) delivery or point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery. Each derived key to be delivered by PTP is the same as each derived key to be delivered by PTM. In block 910, method 900 encodes a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message for transmission to each of the multiple UEs and an N2 message for transmission to a base station. Both the DL NAS message and the N2 message may include the derived key.

[0075] The method 900 may also include the UE ID being unique for each of the plurality of UEs and comprising one of a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI). The method 900 may also include the derived key being configured to allow the base station to encrypt the MBS packet for transmission and allow the plurality of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packet. The method 900 may include the derived key utilizing symmetric encryption.

[0076] Fig.10 An exemplary architecture of a system 1000 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an example system 1000 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0077] like Fig.10As shown, system 1000 includes UE 1022 and UE 1020. In this example, UE 1022 and UE 1020 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smart phones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (ICs), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDTs), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control units (ECUs), electronic / engine electronic control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0078] In some embodiments, UE 1022 and / or UE 1020 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0079] UE 1022 and UE 1020 may be configured to be connected, e.g., communicatively coupled, to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R) AN 1008). In an embodiment, (R) AN 1008 may be an NG RAN or SG RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a traditional RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to an (R) AN 1008 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to an (R) AN 1008 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UE 1022 and UE 1020 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 1004 and connection 1002, respectively), each connection comprising a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0080] In this example, connection 1004 and connection 1002 are air interfaces to achieve communication coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a SG protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, UE 1022 and UE 1020 may also directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 1010. The ProSe interface 1010 may alternatively be referred to as a side link (SL) interface 110, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0081] UE 1020 is shown as being configured to access AP 1012 (also referred to as a "WLAN node," "WLAN," "WLAN terminal," "WT," etc.) via connection 1024. Connection 1024 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 1012 would include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 1012 is connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 1020, (R) AN 1008, and AP 1012 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 1020 in RRC_CONNECTED configured by RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 1020 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 1024) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent through connection 1024. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0082] (R)AN 1008 may include one or more AN nodes, such as RAN node 1014 and RAN node 1016, that implement connection 1004 and connection 1002. As used herein, the terms "access node", "access point", etc. may describe a device that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or SG system, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 1000. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 1014 or the RAN node 1016 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as a macrocell base station and / or a low power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0083] In some embodiments, all or part of RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splits, such as PDCP splits, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016); MAC / PHY splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016); or "lower PHY" splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and upper portions of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portions of the PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes. The virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 to execute other virtualized applications. In some implementations, a separate RAN node may represent a separate F1 interface ( Fig.10In some implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs, and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the (R)AN 1008 or by a server pool in a manner similar to the CRAN / vBBUP. In addition or alternatively, one or more of the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to UE 1022 and UE 1020 and is connected to the SGC via an NG interface (discussed below). In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be an RSU or act as an RSU.

[0084] The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuits for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz direct short range communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate on a cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communications as well as other cellular communications services. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or backhaul network.

[0085] The RAN node 1014 and / or the RAN node 1016 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 1022 and the UE 1020. In some embodiments, the RAN node 1014 and / or the RAN node 1016 may perform various logical functions of the (R)AN 1008, 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.

[0086] In an embodiment, UE 1022 and UE 1020 may be configured to communicate with each other or with RAN node 1014 and / or RAN node 1016 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0087] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 1014 and / or RAN node 1016 to UE 1022 and UE 1020, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0088] According to various embodiments, UE 1022 and UE 1020 and RAN node 1014 and / or RAN node 1016 communicate data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) through a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed frequency band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed frequency band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, and the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz frequency band.

[0089] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UE 1022 and UE 1020 and RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these specific implementations, UE 1022 and UE 1020 and RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0090] LBT is a mechanism for a device (e.g., UE 1022 and UE 1020, RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016, etc.) to sense a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include a CCA that utilizes at least an ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an expected transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0091] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs use a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 1022, AP 1012, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the same time, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid conflicts. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a conflict occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have a LAA contention window of variable length between X and YECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS of LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0092] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers can be different for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0093] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may be different, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL, and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are referred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing PCCs may require the UE 1022 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in an unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and the LAA SCells are assisted by the PCells operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0094] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to UE 1022 and UE 1020. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It may also inform UE 1022 and UE 1020 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 1020 within a cell) may be performed at either RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 based on channel quality information fed back from either UE 1022 and UE 1020. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of UE 1022 and UE 1020.

[0095] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0096] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, referred to as EREG. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0097] RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 1030. In an embodiment where system 1000 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 1006 is an EPC), interface 1030 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface, and may be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from MeNB to SeNB; information about successfully delivering PDCP PDUs from SeNB to UE1022 in sequence for user data; information about PDCP PDUs not delivered to UE 1022; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at Se NB for transmitting user data to UE; and the like. X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0098] In an embodiment where the system 1000 is a SG or NR system (e.g., when the CN 1006 is an SGC), the interface 1030 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the SGC, between a RAN node 1014 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to the SGC, and / or between two eNBs connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN1006). In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 1022 in a connected mode (e.g., a CM connection) includes functions for managing UE mobility in a connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 1014 or RAN nodes 1016. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) service RAN node 1014 to the new (target) service RAN node 1016; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) service RAN node 1014 and the new (target) service RAN node 1016. The protocol stack of Xn-U may include a transport network layer built on the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of the UDP and / or IP layer for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0099] (R)AN 1008 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network - in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to CN 1006. CN 1006 may include one or more network elements 1032 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 1022 and UE 1020) connected to CN 1006 via (R)AN 1008. Components of CN 1006 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instantiation of CN 1006 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of CN 1006 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. 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, the NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0100] In general, the application server 1018 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 1018 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for UE 1022 and UE 1020 via the EPC. The application server 1018 may communicate with the CN 1006 via the IP communication interface 1036.

[0101] In an embodiment, CN 1006 may be an SGC, and (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 1006 via an NG interface 1034. In an embodiment, NG interface 1034 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 1026, which carries traffic data between RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 1028, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and AMF.

[0102] In an embodiment, CN 1006 may be an SG CN, while in other embodiments, CN 1006 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 1006 is an EPC, (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 1006 via an S1 interface 1034. In an embodiment, S1 interface 1034 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 1026, which carries traffic data between RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 1028, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and MME.

[0103] Fig.11 An example of an infrastructure device 1100 according to various embodiments is shown. The infrastructure device 1100 can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node, an AN, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, the infrastructure device 1100 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0104] The infrastructure device 1100 includes application circuits 1102, baseband circuits 1104, one or more radio front end modules 1106 (RFEMs), memory circuits 1108, power management integrated circuits (shown as PMIC 1110), power tee circuits 1112, network controller circuits 1114, network interface connectors 1120, satellite positioning circuits 1116, and user interface circuits 1118. In some embodiments, the infrastructure device 1100 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory / storage, displays, cameras, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, these components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuits may be separately included in more than one device for a CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementation. The application circuits 1102 include circuits such as, but not limited to: one or more processors (processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: low dropout regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers, serial interfaces such as SPI, I 2C or general purpose programmable serial interface module, real time clock (RTC), timer counter including interval timer and watchdog timer, general purpose input / output (I / O or IO), memory card controller such as secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar products, universal serial bus (USB) interface, mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface and joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1102 can be coupled with or can include a memory / storage element and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the infrastructure device 1100. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit that can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0105] The processor of the application circuit 1102 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1102 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1102 may include one or more Intel FPGAs. or Processor: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or processors; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium(TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, the infrastructure device 1100 may not utilize application circuits 1102, and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from the EPC or 5GC.

[0106] In some implementations, the application circuit 1102 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, and the like; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, the circuitry of the application circuit 1102 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the procedures, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 1102 may include a memory unit (e.g., an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a static memory (e.g., a static random access memory (SRAM), an anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in a look-up table (LUT), etc. The baseband circuit 1104 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0107] The user interface circuitry 1118 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the infrastructure device 1100 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the infrastructure device 1100. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0108] The radio front end module 1106 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) radio front end module (RFEM) and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the millimeter wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical radio front end module 1106 that combines both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0109] The memory circuit 1108 may include one or more of the following: a volatile memory including a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a non-volatile memory (NVM) including a high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as a "flash memory"), a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with a memory device obtained from and The memory circuit 1108 may be implemented as one or more of: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0110] The PMIC 1110 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 1112 may provide electrical power extracted from a network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure device 1100 using a single cable.

[0111] The network controller circuit 1114 may provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on a GRE tunnel, Ethernet based on Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to / from the infrastructure device 1100 via the network interface connector 1120 using a physical connection, which may be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 1114 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 1114 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0112] The positioning circuit 1116 includes a circuit for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by a positioning network of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS), etc. for navigation), etc. The positioning circuit 1116 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communications) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1116 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1116 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1104 and / or the radio front end module 1106 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1116 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 1102, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures, etc. Fig.11 The components shown may communicate with each other using interface circuitry that may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCix), PCI express (PCie), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0113] Fig.12 An example of a platform 1200 according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 1200 may be suitable for use as a UE, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 1200 may include any combination of components shown in the example. The components of the platform 1200 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), part of an IC, a discrete electronic device, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1200, or as components otherwise incorporated within the chassis of a larger system. Fig.12The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 1200. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0114] Application circuit 1202 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and LDO, interrupt controller, serial interface (such as SPI), I 2 C or general programmable serial interface module, RTC, timer-counter (including interval timer and watchdog timer), general IO, memory card controller (such as SDMMC or similar controller), USB interface, MIPI interface and JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1202 can be coupled with or can include a memory / storage element, and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the platform 1200. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit, which can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0115] The processor of the application circuit 1202 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multi-threaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1202 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0116] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1202 may include a processor based on Architecture TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU-class processors, or can be purchased from The processor of application circuit 1202 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s AS-A9 processor, Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM Processor, Texas Instruments, OpenMultimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 1202 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 1202 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as company( Edison Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0117] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 1202 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); etc. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1202 may include logic blocks or logic structures, and other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1202 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc.

[0118] Baseband circuit 1204 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0119] The radio front end module 1206 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) radio front end module (RFEM) and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the millimeter wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions may be implemented in the same physical radio front end module 1206 incorporating both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0120] The memory circuit 1208 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a certain amount of system memory. For example, the memory circuit 1208 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SD RAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 1208 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) based low power double data rate (LPDDR) design such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1208 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 1208 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with the application circuit 1202. In order to provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 1208 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1200 may be combined with a computer system obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0121] Removable memory 1226 may include devices, circuits, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 1200. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage, and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0122] Platform 1200 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to platform 1200. External devices connected to platform 1200 via the interface circuitry include sensors 1222 and electromechanical components (shown as EMC 1224), as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memory 1226.

[0123] Sensors 1222 include devices, modules, or subsystems that are designed to detect events or changes in their environment and send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0124] EMC 1224 includes devices, modules or subsystems that are intended to enable platform 1200 to change its state, position and / or orientation or to move or control mechanisms or (sub) systems. In addition, EMC 1224 may be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of platform 1200 to indicate the current state of EMC 1224. Examples of EMC 1224 include one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMR) and / or solid-state relays (SSR)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, platform 1200 is configured to operate one or more EMC 1224 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients. In some specific implementations, an interface circuit may connect platform 1200 to positioning circuit 1216. The positioning circuit 1216 includes a circuit for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by a positioning network of a GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou navigation satellite system, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.), etc. The positioning circuit 1216 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communications) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1216 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1216 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1204 and / or the radio front-end module 1206 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 1216 may also provide position data and / or time data to application circuitry 1202 , which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (eg, radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

[0125] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1200 with a near field communication circuit (shown as NFC circuit 1212). The NFC circuit 1212 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, where magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 1212 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touch point") external to the platform 1200. The NFC circuit 1212 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 1212 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit a short-range RF signal. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to send stored data to the NFC circuit 1212, or initiate data transmission between the NFC circuit 1212 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smart phone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) proximate to the platform 1200.

[0126] The driver circuit 1218 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 1200. The driver circuit 1218 may include various drivers to allow other components of the platform 1200 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the platform 1200. For example, the driver circuit 1218 may include a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface of the platform 1200, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor 1222 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor 1222, an EMC driver for obtaining actuator positions of the EMC 1224 and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 1224, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0127] A power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 1210) (also referred to as a "power management circuit") may manage power provided to various components of the platform 1200. Specifically, the PMIC 1210 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion with respect to the baseband circuit 1204. The PMIC 1210 may typically be included when the platform 1200 is capable of being powered by a battery 1214, for example, when the device is included in a UE.

[0128] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1210 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1200. For example, if the platform 1200 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, then after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 1200 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 1200 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. are performed. The platform 1200 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device wakes up periodically again to listen to the network and then powers off again. The platform 1200 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power saving modes may prevent the device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0129] The battery 1214 can provide power to the platform 1200, but in some examples, the platform 1200 can be mounted in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 1214 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1214 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0130] In some implementations, the battery 1214 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 1200 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1214. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1214, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 1214, to provide fault prediction. The BMS may transmit information about the battery 1214 to the application circuit 1202 or other components of the platform 1200. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1202 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1214 or the current from the battery 1214. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 1200 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0131] A power block or other power source coupled to the grid may be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1214. In some examples, the power block may be replaced with a wireless power receiver to wirelessly obtain power, for example, through a loop antenna in the computer platform 1200. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected may depend on the size of the battery 1214 and, therefore, the current required. Charging may be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance.

[0132] The user interface circuit 1220 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 1200, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 1200 and / or a peripheral component interface designed to implement interaction with the peripheral components of the platform 1200. The user interface circuit 1220 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuit may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators, such as binary state indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of the platform 1200. The output device circuit may also include a speaker or other audio emitting device, a printer, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor 1222 may be used as an input device circuit (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may be used as an output device circuit (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuit including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0133] Although not shown, the components of platform 1200 may communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCix, PCie, a time-triggered protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0134] Fig.13 Exemplary components of a device 1300 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, the device 1300 may include at least an application circuit 1306, a baseband circuit 1304, a radio frequency (RF) circuit (shown as RF circuit 1302), a front-end module (FEM) circuit (shown as FEM 1332), one or more antennas 1330, and a power management circuit (shown as PMC 1334) coupled together as shown. The components of the illustrated device 1300 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 1300 may include fewer elements (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize the application circuit 1306, but include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 1300 may include additional elements, such as a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the following components may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuit may be separately included in more than one device for a specific implementation of a cloud-RAN (C-RAN)).

[0135] The application circuit 1306 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuit 1306 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). These processors may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage device and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 1300. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuit 1306 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0136] The baseband circuit 1304 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 1304 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1302 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1302. The baseband circuit 1304 may interact with the application circuit 1306 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 1302. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor (3G baseband processor 1308), a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor (4G baseband processor 1310), a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor (5G baseband processor 1312), or other baseband processors 1314 of other existing generations, under development, or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuit 1304 (e.g., one or more of the baseband processors) may handle various radio control functions that can communicate with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 1302. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the illustrated baseband processor may be included in a module stored in the memory 1320 and executed via the central processing unit (CPU 1316). The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 1304 may include a fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping function. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 1304 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions is not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

[0137] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may include a digital signal processor (DSP), such as one or more audio DSPs 1318. The one or more audio DSPs 1318 may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, 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 embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1304 and the application circuit 1306 may be implemented together, such as on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0138] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1304 may support communications with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 1304 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0139] RF circuit 1302 may enable communication with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 1302 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 1302 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting an RF signal received from FEM circuit 1332 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuit 1304. RF circuit 1302 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting a baseband signal provided by baseband circuit 1304 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 1332.

[0140] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1302 may include a mixer circuit 1322, an amplifier circuit 1324, and a filter circuit 1326. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1302 may include a filter circuit 1326 and a mixer circuit 1322. The RF circuit 1302 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1328 for synthesizing frequencies used by the mixer circuits 1322 of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1322 of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1332 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1328. The amplifier circuit 1324 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1326 may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 1304 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required.In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1322 of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0141] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1322 of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1328 to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1332. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1304 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1326.

[0142] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1322 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1322 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1322 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1322 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1322 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1322 of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1322 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1322 of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0143] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuit 1302 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits, and baseband circuit 1304 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuit 1302.

[0144] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0145] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1328 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 1328 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0146] Synthesizer circuit 1328 may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a divider control input for use by mixer circuit 1322 of RF circuit 1302. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1328 may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0147] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 1304 or application circuitry 1306 (such as an application processor) according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application circuitry 1306.

[0148] The synthesizer circuit 1328 of the RF circuit 1302 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0149] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1328 can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and can be used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1302 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0150] The FEM circuitry 1332 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from the one or more antennas 1330, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuitry 1302 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 1332 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by the RF circuitry 1302 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 1330. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuitry 1302, only in the FEM circuitry 1332, or in both the RF circuitry 1302 and the FEM circuitry 1332.

[0151] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1332 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 1332 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1332 may include an LNA to amplify a received RF signal and provide an amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., provided to the RF circuit 1302). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1332 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1302), and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more of the one or more antennas 1330).

[0152] In some embodiments, PMC 1334 can manage the power provided to baseband circuit 1304. Specifically, PMC 1334 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When device 1300 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when device 1300 is included in a UE, PMC 1334 can generally be included. PMC 1334 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing a desired specific implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

[0153] Fig.13 PMC 1334 is shown coupled only to baseband circuitry 1304. However, in other embodiments, PMC 1334 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components (such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 1306, RF circuitry 1302, or FEM circuitry 1332) and perform similar power management operations for these components.

[0154] In some embodiments, the PMC 1334 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 1300. For example, if the device 1300 is in the RRC_Connected state, where the device is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, then after a period of inactivity, the device may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the device 1300 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power.

[0155] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 1300 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. The device 1300 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 1300 cannot receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, the device must transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0156] An additional power saving mode can keep a device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered down. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0157] The processor of the application circuit 1306 and the processor of the baseband circuit 1304 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 1304 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 1306 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a physical (PHY) layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0158] Fig.14 An exemplary interface 1400 of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments is shown. As discussed above, Fig.13 The baseband circuit 1304 may include a 3G baseband processor 1308, a 4G baseband processor 1310, a 5G baseband processor 1312, other baseband processors 1314, a CPU 1316, and a memory 1320 utilized by the processors. As shown, each processor may include a corresponding memory interface 1402 for sending / receiving data to / from the memory 1320.

[0159] The baseband circuit 1304 may also include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 1404 (e.g., an interface for sending data to or receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit 1304), an application circuit interface 1406 (e.g., an interface for sending data to or receiving data from the memory external to the baseband circuit 1304), and an application circuit interface 1407 (e.g., an interface for sending data to or receiving data from the memory external to the baseband circuit 1304). Fig.13 an interface for sending data to or receiving data from the application circuit 1306), an RF circuit interface 1408 (for example, an interface for sending data to or receiving data from the application circuit Fig.13 an interface for sending data to or receiving data from the RF circuit 1302 of the wireless communication device 1300, a wireless hardware connection interface 1410 (for example, for sending data to a near field communication (NFC) component, Components (e.g. Low Energy), components and other communication components to send or receive data from these components) and a power management interface 1412 (e.g., an interface for sending or receiving power or control signals to or from the PMC 1334).

[0160] Fig.15 1 is a block diagram illustrating a component 1500 capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some example embodiments. Specifically, Fig.15 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1502 is shown, which includes one or more processors 1506 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1514, and one or more communication resources 1524, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 1516. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1522 can be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1502.

[0161] Processor 1506 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1508 and processor 1510.

[0162] The memory / storage device 1514 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1514 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0163] The communication resources 1524 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1504 or one or more databases 1520 via the network 1518. For example, the communication resources 1524 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Parts (e.g. Low power consumption), components and other communication components.

[0164] The instructions 1512 may include software, programs, applications, applet, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1506 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1512 may reside completely or partially in at least one of the processors 1506 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1514, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1512 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 1502 from any combination of the peripheral device 1504 or the database 1520. Therefore, the memory of the processor 1506, the memory / storage device 1514, the peripheral device 1504, and the database 1520 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0165] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes and / or methods described in the following examples section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the examples section below.

[0166] Examples

[0167] The following examples relate to additional embodiments.

[0168] Embodiment 1 may include a method for wireless communication through an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method including: processing group information associated with a multicast / broadcast (MB) session context received from an application function (AF), at least a portion of the group information including a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI); processing a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments (UEs), each of the plurality of MB session join requests including the TMGI and associated with the MB session context; in response to processing the plurality of UE MB session join requests, encoding an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function (MB-SMF); processing an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF, the MB session response including a key derived for each of a portion of the plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of the plurality of UEs and the TMGI; and encoding a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message for transmission to each of the plurality of UEs and an N2 message for transmission to a base station, the DL Both the NAS message and the N2 message include the derived key.

[0169] Embodiment 2 may include a method according to embodiment 1, wherein each derived key is delivered to the portion of the multiple UEs via point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery, and each derived key is the same for each UE in the portion of the multiple UEs.

[0170] Embodiment 3 may include the method of embodiment 2, wherein one or more NAS keys are reused and delivered to a second different portion of the plurality of UEs via point-to-point (PTP) delivery.

[0171] Embodiment 4 may include the method of embodiment 3, wherein the derived key and the NAS key are different.

[0172] Embodiment 5 may include the method of embodiment 1, wherein the UE ID is unique for each UE in the portion of UEs and comprises one of a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI).

[0173] Embodiment 6 may include the method of embodiment 1, wherein the derived key is configured to allow the base station to encrypt MBS packets for transmission and allow the portion of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packets.

[0174] Embodiment 7 may include the method of embodiment 1, wherein the derived key utilizes symmetric encryption.

[0175] Embodiment 8 may include a method for wireless communication via an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: processing group information associated with a multicast / broadcast (MB) session context received from an application function (AF), at least a portion of the group information comprising a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI); processing a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments (UEs), each of the plurality of MB session join requests comprising the TMGI and being associated with the MB session context; in response to processing the plurality of UE MB session join requests, encoding an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function (MB-SMF); processing an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF, the MB session response comprising a first set of keys derived for each of the first portion of UEs in the UE using a UE ID associated with each of the first portion of UEs in the plurality of UEs and the TMGI and a UE ID associated with each of the second portion of UEs in the plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of the second portion of UEs in the plurality of UEs. The invention relates to a method for transmitting a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message to each UE in the plurality of UEs and an N2 message to a base station, wherein each encoded DL NAS message includes a key from the first group of keys or the second group of keys, and the N2 message includes a key from the first group of keys or the second group of keys.

[0176] Embodiment 9 may include the method of embodiment 8, wherein the second set of keys is delivered to the second portion of UEs via point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery, and each key in the second set of keys is identical.

[0177] Embodiment 10 may include a method according to embodiment 9, wherein the first set of keys is delivered to the first portion of UEs via point-to-point (PTP) delivery, and each key in the first set of keys is uniquely associated with one of the first portions of UEs.

[0178] Embodiment 11 may include the method of Embodiment 10, wherein the first set of keys is different from the second set of keys.

[0179] Embodiment 12 may include the method of embodiment 9, wherein the first set of keys is delivered to the first portion of UEs via point-to-point (PTP) delivery, and each key in the first set of keys is identical.

[0180] Embodiment 13 may include the method of embodiment 8, wherein the UE ID is unique to each of the plurality of UEs and comprises one of a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI).

[0181] Embodiment 14 may include a method according to embodiment 8, wherein each key in the first set of keys and each key in the second set of keys are configured to allow the base station to encrypt MBS packets for transmission and allow a corresponding UE among the multiple UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packets.

[0182] Embodiment 15 may include the method of Embodiment 8, wherein at least a portion of the first set of keys or the second set of keys utilizes asymmetric encryption.

[0183] Embodiment 16 may include a method for wireless communication via an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: processing group information associated with a multicast / broadcast (MB) session context received from an application function (AF), at least a portion of the group information comprising a temporary mobile group identity (TMGI); processing a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments (UEs), each of the plurality of MB session join requests comprising the TMGI and being associated with the MB session context; in response to processing the plurality of UE MB session join requests, encoding an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function (MB-SMF); processing an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF, the MB session response comprising a UE associated with each of the plurality of UEs. The invention relates to a method for transmitting a UE in a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message to each UE in the plurality of UEs and a key derived by the TMGI for each UE in the plurality of UEs, wherein each derived key is to be delivered via point-to-point (PTP) delivery or point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery, wherein each derived key to be delivered via PTP is the same as each derived key to be delivered via PTM; and encoding a downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message for transmission to each UE in the plurality of UEs and an N2 message for transmission to a base station, wherein both the DL NAS message and the N2 message include the derived key.

[0184] Embodiment 17 may include the method of embodiment 16, wherein the UE ID is unique to each of the plurality of UEs and comprises one of a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) or a general public subscription identifier (GPSI).

[0185] Embodiment 18 may include the method of Embodiment 16, wherein the derived key is configured to allow the base station to encrypt MBS packets for transmission and allow the plurality of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packets.

[0186] Embodiment 19 may include a method according to embodiment 16, wherein the derived key utilizes symmetric encryption.

[0187] Embodiment 20 may include an apparatus for an access and mobility management function (AMF), the apparatus comprising means for processing each of the steps of any one of claims 1 to 20.

[0188] Embodiment 21 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0189] Embodiment 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0190] Embodiment 23 may include a device comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0191] Embodiment 24 may include methods, techniques or processes described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or parts or components thereof.

[0192] Embodiment 25 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, process, or portion thereof described in or related to any one of the above embodiments.

[0193] Embodiment 26 may include signals or parts or components thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0194] Embodiment 27 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU) or message or a portion or component thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or content otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0195] Embodiment 28 may include a signal encoded with data or a portion or component thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or content described in other ways in this disclosure.

[0196] Embodiment 29 may include a signal or a portion or component thereof encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or content described in other ways in the present disclosure.

[0197] Embodiment 30 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0198] Embodiment 31 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, described in or related to any one of the above embodiments.

[0199] Embodiment 32 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0200] Embodiment 33 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0201] Embodiment 34 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0202] Embodiment 35 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0203] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings or may be obtained from the practice of the various embodiments.

[0204] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general or special purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0205] It should be appreciated that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially incorporated into other systems, separated into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be appreciated that unless otherwise stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0206] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0207] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for the sake of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways to implement both the processes and the apparatus described herein. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication via an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: processing group information associated with a multicast / broadcast MB session context received from an application function AF, at least a part of the group information comprising a temporary mobile group identity TMGI; Processing a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments UE, each of the plurality of MB session join requests comprising the TMGI and being associated with the MB session context; In response to processing the plurality of UE MB session join requests, encoding an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function MB-SMF; processing an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF, the MB session response comprising a key derived for each of the portion of the plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of the plurality of UEs and the TMGI; as well as A downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message is encoded for transmission to each of the plurality of UEs and an N2 message is encoded for transmission to a base station, both the DL NAS message and the N2 message comprising the derived key.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each derived key is delivered to the portion of the plurality of UEs via point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery, and each derived key is the same for each of the portion of the plurality of UEs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one or more NAS keys are reused and delivered to a second different portion of the plurality of UEs via point-to-point PTP delivery. The method of claim 3 , wherein the derived key and the NAS key are different.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE ID is unique for each UE in the portion of UEs and comprises one of a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) or a General Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the derived key is configured to allow the base station to encrypt MBS packets for transmission and allow the portion of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packets. The method of claim 1 , wherein the derived key utilizes symmetric encryption.

8. A method for wireless communication via an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: processing group information associated with a multicast / broadcast MB session context received from an application function AF, at least a part of the group information comprising a temporary mobile group identity TMGI; Processing a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments UE, each of the plurality of MB session join requests comprising the TMGI and being associated with the MB session context; In response to processing the plurality of UE MB session join requests, encoding an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function MB-SMF; processing an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF, the MB session response comprising a first set of keys derived using a UE ID associated with each UE in a first portion of the plurality of UEs and the TMGI for each UE in the first portion of the UEs, and a second set of keys derived using a UE ID associated with each UE in a second, different portion of the plurality of UEs and the TMGI for each UE in the second portion of the UEs; as well as A downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message is encoded for transmission to each of the plurality of UEs and an N2 message is encoded for transmission to a base station, each encoded DL NAS message comprises a key from the first set of keys or the second set of keys, and the N2 message comprises a key from the first set of keys or the second set of keys.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second set of keys is delivered to the second portion of UEs via point-to-multipoint (PTM) delivery, and each key in the second set of keys is the same.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first set of keys is delivered to the first portion of UEs via point-to-point PTP delivery, and each key in the first set of keys is uniquely associated with one UE in the first portion of UEs. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first set of keys is different from the second set of keys.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the first set of keys is delivered to the first portion of UEs via point-to-point PTP delivery, and each key in the first set of keys is identical.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the UE ID is unique to each of the plurality of UEs and comprises one of a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) or a General Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI).

14. The method of claim 8, wherein each key in the first set of keys and each key in the second set of keys are configured to allow the base station to encrypt MBS packets for transmission and allow a corresponding UE in the plurality of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packets.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the first set of keys or the second set of keys utilizes asymmetric encryption.

16. A method for wireless communication via an access and mobility management function (AMF), the method comprising: processing group information associated with a multicast / broadcast MB session context received from an application function AF, at least a part of the group information comprising a temporary mobile group identity TMGI; Processing a plurality of MB session join requests received from a plurality of user equipments UE, each of the plurality of MB session join requests comprising the TMGI and being associated with the MB session context; In response to processing the plurality of UE MB session join requests, encoding an MB session request associated with the MB session context for transmission to an MB session management function MB-SMF; processing an MB session response associated with the MB session context received from the MB-SMF, the MB session response comprising a key derived for each of the plurality of UEs using a UE ID associated with each of the plurality of UEs and the TMGI, each derived key to be delivered via point-to-point PTP delivery or point-to-multipoint PTM delivery, wherein each derived key to be delivered via PTP is the same as each derived key to be delivered via PTM; and A downlink (DL) non-access stratum (NAS) message is encoded for transmission to each of the plurality of UEs and an N2 message is encoded for transmission to a base station, both the DL NAS message and the N2 message comprising the derived key.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the UE ID is unique for each of the plurality of UEs and comprises one of a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI) or a General Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI).

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the derived key is configured to allow the base station to encrypt MBS packets for transmission and allow the plurality of UEs to decrypt the encrypted MBS packets.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the derived key utilizes symmetric encryption.

20. An apparatus for an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), comprising means for processing each of the steps of any one of claims 1 to 19.

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