Systems and methods for SCG activation and deactivation

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing secondary cell group (SCG) activation and deactivation. A user equipment (UE) in a wireless network can determine the bandwidth part (BWP) configuration of the carrier of the primary secondary cell (PSCell) of an SCG for dual connectivity (DC). The UE can move between SCG activated and SCG deactivated states based on these BWP configurations. SCG deactivation modeling can be based on a separate BWP configuration or can be modeled via a separate configuration in the radio resource control (RRC) applicable to the BWP in the serving cell.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, including activation and deactivation of secondary cell groups for user equipment in dual connectivity. 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 commonly 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 commonly referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) in the LTE system, a 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, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or a Radio Network Controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device called a user equipment (UE). In the fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes may include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also known as next generation Node B or gNodeB (gNB)).

[0003] The RAN uses radio access technologies (RATs) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN may include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and / or E-UTRAN, which provide access to communication services through the core network. Each RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RATs, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RATs or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements LTE RATs, and NG-RAN implements 5G RATs. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement 5G RATs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] 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.

[0005] Figure 1 A UE in dual connectivity according to various embodiments is shown.

[0006] Figure 2 An exemplary method for SCG activation and / or deactivation is shown, according to one embodiment.

[0007] Figure 3 A method according to one embodiment is shown.

[0008] Figure 4A Carriers of a PSCell according to one embodiment are shown.

[0009] Figure 4B The carriers of an SCell according to one embodiment are shown.

[0010] Figure 5 A method according to one embodiment is shown.

[0011] Figure 6 A method according to one embodiment is shown.

[0012] Figure 7 Shown is data to be transmitted via the MCG and SCG according to one embodiment.

[0013] Figure 8 Infrastructure equipment according to one embodiment is shown.

[0014] Figure 9 A platform according to one embodiment is shown.

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

[0016] Figure 11 Components according to one embodiment are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Embodiments disclosed herein relate to secondary cell group (SCG) activation and deactivation enhancements. One embodiment models SCG deactivation via a separate bandwidth part (BWP) configuration. Additionally or in other embodiments, SCG deactivation can be modeled via a separate configuration in the radio resource control (RRC) for the BWP in the serving cell.

[0018] A 5G carrier can be configured with multiple BWPs. Those skilled in the art will understand that a BWP may refer to a set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) within a carrier. The PRBs of a BWP may be contiguous. In some systems, a UE may be configured to have up to four BWPs in the downlink or up to four BWPs in the uplink, for example. An additional four BWPs may be configured in the supplementary uplink. In some implementations, only one BWP in the UL and one BWP in the DL may be active at a given time. Therefore, the UE cannot transmit the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and cannot receive the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or PDCCH outside the active BWP. BWP configuration parameters may include parameter set, frequency location, bandwidth size, and control resource set (CORESET).

[0019] In certain embodiments, when a UE transitions from an inactive mode to a connected mode, the network may inform the UE whether to activate the SCG or to remain deactivated. In the transition from an inactive mode to a connected mode, the UE may also, for example, inform the network of the UE's preferences for the saved SCG configuration (e.g., a preference for deactivating the SCG upon resume or a preference for activating the SCG upon resume). As will be described in more detail below, exemplary embodiments may provide power and performance benefits for UEs configured with dual connectivity (DC).

[0020] The various embodiments are described with respect to a UE. However, reference to a UE is provided for illustrative purposes only. The exemplary embodiments may be used with any electronic component that can establish a connection with a network and is configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware for exchanging information and data with the network. Therefore, as described herein, a UE is used to represent any suitable electronic component.

[0021] The UE can support DC with the Master Cell Group (MCG) and SCG. For example, Figure 1 106. A UE 102 is shown that is dual-connected to an MCG 104 and an SCG 106. The MCG 104 may include at least one master node (MN), and the SCG 106 may include at least one secondary node (SN) or secondary cell (SCell). Furthermore, a special cell (SpCell) may refer to a primary cell (PCell) of the MCG 104 or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of the SCG 106. Therefore, the terms "SpCell," "MN," and "PCell" may be used interchangeably in the context of a DC. Furthermore, the terms "SpCell," "SN," and "PSCell" may also be used interchangeably in the context of a DC.

[0022] When UE 102 is configured with DC, some systems allow the network to deactivate and / or activate SCG 106. Deactivation and / or activation of SCG 106 from the network may be via RRC signaling or via Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Elements (CEs) or via Downlink Control Information (DCI), for example.

[0023] For example, Figure 2 An example method 200 for SCG activation and / or deactivation via an MCG is shown. In this example, a UE 202 is configured to communicate with a MN 204 and a SN 206 in DC mode. In DC, data transmission occurs between the UE 202 and the MN 204 and between the UE 202 and the SN 206. Data transmission may also occur between the MN 204 and the SN 206. At block 208, the MN 204 may determine that the amount of data is less than a predetermined threshold amount. The amount of downlink (DL) data may be based on the amount of data stored in the DL buffer. The amount of uplink (UL) data may be based on a buffer status report (BSR) reported by the UE.

[0024] Because the amount of data is less than the threshold amount, MN 204 performs SCG deactivation (e.g., via RRC signaling) on SN 206 and UE 202. Consequently, data transmission continues only between UE 202 and MN 204. With SN 206 deactivated, UE 202 does not need to: monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) and / or channel state information (CSI) report; perform radio link monitoring (RLM); or perform a scheduling request (SR) or random access channel (RACH) transmission on the SCG Pcell. If UE 202 requests transmission of UL data to SN 206 (e.g., SCG data radio bearer (DRB) data is available), UE 202 transmits an SCG activation request 210 to MN 204. SCG activation request 210 may include the amount of data available for SCG transmission. At block 212, MN 204 may determine that the amount of data indicated in SCG activation request 210 is greater than the threshold amount. In response, MN 204 performs SCG activation (eg, via RRC signaling) to SN 206 and UE 202. After the SCG is activated, data transmission occurs between UE 202 and MN 204 and between UE 202 and SN 206. Data transmission may also occur between MN 204 and SN 206.

[0025] I. SCG Activation / Deactivation Configuration Modeling

[0026] In certain embodiments, configuration modeling provides the network with the ability to activate and / or deactivate the SCG of the UE via RRC signaling, via MAC CE, and / or via DCI. For RRC signaling, the network's ability to activate and / or deactivate the SCG may be via MCG and / or via SCG. Configuration modeling may also provide the ability for the UE to autonomously move in and out of activation and / or deactivation (e.g., based on triggered internal events), the ability to model the configuration of SCG activation and / or deactivation states across RRC connected and RRC inactive state transitions, and / or the ability to configure the UE to perform certain actions (e.g., perform CSI measurements and / or reporting, perform SRS, etc.) during the SCG deactivated state.

[0027] In certain embodiments, the SCG activation / deactivation configuration is modeled based on one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs). For example, Figure 3 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 according to one embodiment. In block 302, the method 300 includes determining a BWP configuration for a carrier of a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG) for dual connectivity (DC). In block 304, the method 300 includes moving between an SCG activated state and an SCG deactivated state based on the BWP configuration.

[0028] In one embodiment, the deactivation of the SCG is modeled via a separate BWP configuration, where the PSCell has an additional BWP configuration for the deactivated state. For example, Figure 4A A carrier 402 of a PSCell is shown including one or more BWPs 404 and an additional BWP 406 carrying an SCG deactivation configuration. The UE can move in and out of SCG activation and deactivation via RRC signaling, where RRC notifies the BWP to switch from one or more BWPs 404 to the additional BWP 406 carrying an SCG deactivation configuration.

[0029] In addition, or in other embodiments, an additional BWP configuration carrying an SCG deactivation configuration may be assigned a BWP identifier (ID), and the network may use MAC CE or DCI to perform a BWP switch in the PSCell for the BWP ID, which may imply an SCG activation / deactivation transition. The MAC CE and / or DCI may be transmitted via the MCG or from the SCG (but relayed via the MCG).

[0030] In some embodiments, the SCG SCell may have additional BWP configurations to be used in the SCG deactivated state. For example, Figure 4B A carrier 408 of an SCell of an SCG is shown including one or more BWPs 410 and an additional BWP 412 carrying an SCG deactivation configuration.

[0031] Alternatively, the network may notify the UE to use the dormant BWP configuration for the SCell in SCG deactivation. Figure 4B The illustrated SCell's carrier 408 may also include a dormant BWP 414. One or more BWPs 410 may be non-dormant BWPs that can be used to access network services typically available via a network connection. For example, a UE may transmit and / or receive data on a (non-dormant) BWP 410. The dormant BWP 414 (if configured) may be used to provide power savings benefits for data exchange processing at the UE. In certain embodiments, if an additional BWP 412 is not configured, the dormant BWP 414 (if configured) is used. Otherwise, the SCell may be considered deactivated.

[0032] In certain embodiments, if the SCell is configured with a dormant BWP or an additional BWP for deactivated SCG operation, the PSCell additional BWP may include periodicity and optionally UL resources for periodic reporting of CSI, SRS, etc.

[0033] Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method 500 according to one embodiment. Figure 3 The illustrated method 300 continues with block 502, where the method 500 includes identifying that a first BWP of a PSCell of an SCG includes an SCG deactivation configuration. In block 504, the method 500 includes moving from an SCG activated state to an SCG deactivated state in response to a first message from the wireless network switching from a second BWP of the PSCell of the SCG to the first BWP. In block 506, the method 500 includes moving from the SCG deactivated state to the SCG activated state in response to a second message from the wireless network switching from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0034] In one embodiment of method 500, the first message and the second message include radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In other embodiments, the first BWP including the SCG deactivation configuration is associated with a BWP identifier (ID), and the first message and the second message include a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI). The MAC CE or DCI can be received at the UE from a master cell group (MCG) or from an SCG (via an MCG relay).

[0035] In one embodiment, method 500 further includes: identifying that a secondary cell (SCell) of the SCG is configured with a third BWP for operation in the SCG deactivated state; and determining, from the SCG deactivated configuration of the first BWP of the PSCell, a periodicity for periodic reporting of channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission and / or uplink resources for periodic reporting of channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission. Method 500 may further include: receiving an indication from the wireless network to use a dormant BWP configuration for the SCell in the SCG deactivated state. If the third BWP is not configured, the UE uses the BWP configuration for operation of the SCell in the SCG deactivated state. If neither the third BWP nor the dormant BWP configuration is configured, the UE considers the SCell to be deactivated.

[0036] Other embodiments model the deactivation of the SCG via a single configuration in RRC that applies to all BWPs in a serving cell (or at least a set of BWPs used by a UE). In some such embodiments, the single configuration in RRC applies to all BWPs in a serving cell. For a PSCell, this configuration may include the periodicity and optionally the UL resources used for periodic reporting of CSI, SRS, etc. In a PSCell, regardless of which BWP the UE is in, the UE may perform SCG deactivation actions based on a single global configuration that is specific to each serving cell.

[0037] The UE may be deactivated in and out of the entire SCG with one signaling (i.e., per-serving cell configuration is not allowed in some embodiments). The signaling may be via RRC where the UE is required to transition for the entire SCG, or via MAC CE or DCI where MAC CE and / or DCI may be to or from the SCG (but relayed via the MCG).

[0038] For example, Figure 6 is a flow chart of method 600 according to one embodiment. Figure 3 Continuing with the illustrated method 300, at block 602, the method 600 includes determining, based on a message from the wireless network, that a BWP configuration for a carrier of the PSCell is associated with an SCG deactivated state. At block 604, the method 600 includes moving the UE to the SCG deactivated state. At block 606, the method 600 includes performing one or more SCG deactivation actions regardless of the specific BWP currently used by the UE.

[0039] Certain embodiments of method 600 further include determining, from a BWP configuration, at least one of a periodicity for periodic reporting of channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission and uplink resources for periodic reporting of channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission. The message may include radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI). The MAC CE or DCI may be received from an MCG or from an SCG (relayed via the MCG).

[0040] II. Modeling Pause / Resume Using SCG Activation / Deactivation

[0041] In certain embodiments, suspend / resume utilizing SCG activation / deactivation modeling provides the network with the ability to move the UE to an RRC inactive state when the SCG is in a deactivated state or an activated state. Furthermore, the modeling may provide the UE with the ability to resume from an RRC inactive state in which the SCG is in a deactivated state (or in an activated state), and upon resumption, provide the network with the ability to place the SCG in a deactivated state or an activated state. Furthermore, embodiments provide the UE with the ability to request the network's preference regarding the SCG state when transitioning from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state.

[0042] In some wireless network implementations, the UE saves the SCG configuration (but not the state of the PSCell / SCell) when suspended. Upon resumption, the UE deactivates all SCells (in both MCG and SCG) and the PSCell is active.

[0043] In certain embodiments, when the UE transitions from inactive mode to connected mode, the network may inform the UE whether to activate the SCG or to remain deactivated. For example, the network may indicate to the UE whether the SCG may be in a deactivated state upon recovery and the corresponding PSCell behavior based on the SCG deactivation configuration. If the SCG is to remain in a deactivated state, the network may notify this via an RRCResume message. The UE then applies the SCG deactivation configuration (e.g., via a BWP model in which the PSCell and / or SCG SCell has an additional BWP configuration for the deactivated state, or via the per-serving cell model discussed above).

[0044] In some embodiments, the SCG deactivation configuration may include SCell information to indicate which SCells will exist in the new state in which the network expects feedback from these SCells when the SCG is in the deactivated state. Feedback from the SCell may include SRS transmission on the SCell, or CSI feedback of the SCell on the PSCell, or CSI feedback of the SCell using a feedback mechanism that transmits PSCell feedback. In some embodiments, the SCG deactivation configuration (e.g., the BWP model or per-serving cell model discussed above) may provide this information to the UE, and the network may modify this information or activate it in the RRC recovery message.

[0045] Figure 7 Data 702 to be transmitted via the MCG and data to be transmitted via the SCG (shown as data 706a and data 706b) are shown. As shown, there may be a situation where, based on the application that the UE is using, the UE predicts that it has no data to transmit via the SCG, or that it does not expect data via the SCG in the downlink within a short time period 704. In this case, the network and / or the UE determines whether to keep the SCG active during the time period 704 when there is no data. Keeping the SCG active during the time period 704 results in a loss of additional power. The UE may request that the SCG be placed in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, but there are disadvantages associated with DRX operation (e.g., increased packet delay, etc.). If the UE resumes from an inactive state for minimal transmission of data, where the UE can expect that the transition to connected mode does not require the use of the SCG, the SCG may still be activated by the network, resulting in a loss of additional power.

[0046] Thus, in some embodiments, upon transition from inactive mode to connected mode, the UE notifies the network of the UE's preference for the saved SCG configuration (i.e., the preference for deactivating the SCG upon resume or the preference for activating the SCG upon resume). In some such embodiments, the preference request is included in the RRCResume message.

[0047] In addition, or in other embodiments, when the UE is in a connected state, the UE may request the network to place the SCG in a deactivated state. For example, the UE may use a UEAssistanceInformation message to request the PCell or MCG to place the SCG in a deactivated state. In some embodiments, for requests using transparent forwarding via the MCG, the UE may use the same message directly to the PSCell or SCG. Alternatively, the UE may send a request to the PSCell or SCG via Signaling Radio Bearer 3 (SRB3). In other embodiments, the UE may use a MAC CE for the request, where the MAC CE may be in the MCG branch. Alternatively, the MAC CE may be triggered by the UE to the SCG using an SCG MAC.

[0048] In certain embodiments, to prevent a UE from overloading the network with requests for assistance information regarding SCG activation and / or deactivation, the UE may wait for a specified period of time during which, once the UE has sent an assistance request, the UE may prevent itself from repeating the same request. The UE may send different assistance requests within the specified period of time (e.g., if the UE has already requested SCG deactivation, the UE may request SCG activation), but it may not re-request SCG deactivation from the network if it has already sent the same request earlier within the specified time. This period of time may be implicitly agreed upon between the UE and the network, or the network may explicitly configure the period of time during SCG configuration.

[0049] Certain embodiments provide for SCG processing when the SCG is in LTE. In one embodiment, for example, when the UE is in a connected state, where the SCG is actually in LTE, and where the MCG may be in LTE or NR (e.g., LTEDC and NE-DC deployments in 3GPP), the UE may use the LTE UE Assistance Information RRC message to request LTE SCG deactivation and / or activation, and corresponding timers prohibiting the UE from repeating the same request also apply (including implicit time or network-configured timers). In different DC deployments, the timer configuration (implicit or explicit) may differ between the LTE SCG and the NR SCG.

[0050] The embodiment discussed above where the network can indicate whether the SCG can be in a deactivated state upon resumption can be extended to LTE SCG, where the UE notifies the NW whether it needs to activate the LTE SCG when the UE transitions from inactive mode to connected mode (if the UE is configured with NE-DC) or when transitioning from the RRC_SUSPEND state in LTE (if the UE is configured with LTE DC). The message from the UE can be based on the MCG RAT. For example, the UE can use the RRCResume message in NR and the RRCConnectionResume message in LTE.

[0051] The embodiment discussed above where the SCG deactivation configuration may include SCell information about which SCells may be in a new state may also be extended in that the network expects feedback from these SCells when the SCG is in a deactivated state, where the network may inform which LTE SCells need to be activated or remain deactivated. As part of SCG activation and / or deactivation, the network may also indicate which LTE SCells need to remain in a dormant state (which is specific to LTE).

[0052] Therefore, the various embodiments disclosed herein avoid or reduce UE power consumption on the SCG when there is no data transmission on the SCG.

[0053] Figure 8 An example of infrastructure equipment 800 according to various embodiments is illustrated. The infrastructure equipment 800 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 equipment 800 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0054] The infrastructure equipment 800 includes application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, one or more radio front-end modules 806 (RFEMs), memory circuitry 808, a power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 810), a power tee circuit 812, a network controller circuitry 814, a network interface connector 820, a satellite positioning circuitry 816, and a user interface circuitry 818. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment 800 may include additional elements such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, these components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device for a CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementation. The application circuitry 802 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I 2 The application circuit 802 may include a C or general programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, general input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar product, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface, and a joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 802 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the infrastructure equipment 800. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may 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.

[0055] The processor of the application circuit 802 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 802 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating in accordance with various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 802 may include one or more Intel or Processor: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), or processors; ARM Holdings, Ltd. licensed ARM-based processors, 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 equipment 800 may not utilize application circuitry 802 and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0056] In some implementations, application circuitry 802 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); programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs) and high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, the circuitry of application circuitry 802 may include logic blocks or logic structures, as well as other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 802 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), antifuses, and the like)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, and the like in lookup tables (LUTs) and the like. Baseband circuitry 804 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.

[0057] The user interface circuitry 818 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the infrastructure equipment 800 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the infrastructure equipment 800. 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 touchpad, 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 port, etc.

[0058] The radio front-end module 806 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 separate from the mmWave 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 mmWave and sub-millimeter wave radio functionality may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 806, incorporating both mmWave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0059] The memory circuit 808 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM) including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as "flash memory"), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with memory devices obtained from and The memory circuit 808 may be implemented as one or more of: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0060] The PMIC 810 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as batteries or capacitors. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 812 may provide power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity for the infrastructure equipment 800 using a single cable.

[0061] The network controller circuitry 814 can provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol, such as Ethernet, Ethernet over a GRE tunnel, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity can be provided to / from the infrastructure equipment 800 via the network interface connector 820 using a physical connection, which can be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuitry 814 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 circuitry 814 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0062] The positioning circuit 816 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the global satellite navigation 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., navigation using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS), etc.). The positioning circuit 816 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 816 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 816 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 804 and / or the radio front end module 806 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 816 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 802, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure, etc. Figure 8 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.

[0063] Figure 9 An example of a platform 900 according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 900 may be suitable for use as a UE, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 900 may include any combination of the components shown in the example. The components of the platform 900 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of ICs, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof adapted into the computer platform 900, or as components otherwise incorporated within the chassis of a larger system. Figure 9 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 900. 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.

[0064] Application circuit 902 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 The application circuit 902 may include one or more of a C or general purpose programmable serial interface module, an RTC, a timer-counter (including an interval timer and a watchdog timer), a general purpose IO, a memory card controller (such as an SDMMC or similar controller), a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 902 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage element to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the platform 900. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may 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.

[0065] The processor of the application circuit 902 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, a multi-threaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embedded processor, some other known processing element, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 902 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0066] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 902 may include a processor based on Architecture Core 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 902 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 processors, Texas Instruments, Open Multimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 902 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 902 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as from company( Edison Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0067] Additionally or alternatively, application circuit 902 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuit 902 may include logic blocks or logic fabrics, as well as other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuit 902 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), antifuse), and the like) for storing logic blocks, logic fabrics, data, and the like in lookup tables (LUTs) and the like.

[0068] Baseband circuitry 904 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.

[0069] The radio front-end module 906 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 separate from the mmWave 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 mmWave and sub-millimeter wave radio functionality may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 906, incorporating both mmWave antennas and sub-millimeter wave antennas.

[0070] The memory circuit 908 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a fixed amount of system memory. For example, the memory circuit 908 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 908 may be developed according to a Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) low-power double data rate (LPDDR)-based design, such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 908 may be implemented as one or more of the following: 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 908 may be on-chip memory or registers associated with the application circuit 902. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 908 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 900 may be combined with a computer system obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0071] Removable storage 926 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 900. 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.

[0072] Platform 900 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to platform 900. External devices connected to platform 900 via the interface circuitry include sensors 922 and electromechanical components (shown as EMC 924), as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memory 926.

[0073] Sensors 922 include devices, modules, or subsystems 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 nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a fluid 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.

[0074] The EMC 924 includes devices, modules, or subsystems intended to enable the platform 900 to change its state, position, and / or orientation or to move or control mechanisms or (sub) systems. In addition, the EMC 924 can be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 900 to indicate the current state of the EMC 924. Examples of the EMC 924 include one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 900 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 924 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients. In some implementations, an interface circuit can connect the platform 900 to the positioning circuit 916. The positioning circuit 916 includes circuits 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.). The positioning circuit 916 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 916 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 916 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 904 and / or the radio front-end module 906 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 916 may also provide location data and / or time data to application circuitry 902 , which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (eg, radio base stations) for turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

[0075] In some implementations, the interface circuitry can connect the platform 900 to near-field communication circuitry (illustrated as NFC circuitry 912). NFC circuitry 912 is configured to provide contactless, short-range communication based on radio frequency identification (RFID) standards, where magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuitry 912 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touchpoint") external to the platform 900. The NFC circuitry 912 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller can be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuitry 912 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack can be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware can be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit short-range RF signals. The RF signals can power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuitry 912, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuitry 912 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) in close proximity to the platform 900.

[0076] Driver circuitry 918 may include software and hardware components for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to platform 900. Driver circuitry 918 may include individual drivers to allow other components of platform 900 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present within or connected to platform 900. For example, driver circuitry 918 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 platform 900, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings and controlling and allowing access to sensor 922, an EMC driver for obtaining actuator positions and / or controlling and allowing access to EMC 924, 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.

[0077] A power management integrated circuit (illustrated as PMIC 910) (also referred to as a "power management circuit") can manage the power provided to various components of the platform 900. Specifically, the PMIC 910 can control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion with respect to the baseband circuit 904. The PMIC 910 is typically included when the platform 900 is capable of being powered by a battery 914, such as when the device is included in a UE.

[0078] In some embodiments, the PMIC 910 may control or otherwise be part of various power-saving mechanisms of the platform 900. For example, if the platform 900 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which it remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 900 may power down for short intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 900 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 or handovers. The platform 900 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 platform 900 may not receive data in this state; to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power-saving modes can prevent the device from using the network for periods exceeding 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 off. Any data sent during this time will incur significant delays, assuming that the delay is acceptable.

[0079] Battery 914 can power platform 900, but in some examples, platform 900 can be mounted in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the power grid. Battery 914 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, battery 914 can be a typical lead-acid automobile battery.

[0080] In some implementations, the battery 914 can be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS can be included in the platform 900 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 914. The BMS can be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 914 that are used to provide fault prediction, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 914. The BMS can transmit information about the battery 914 to the application circuit 902 or other components of the platform 900. The BMS can also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 902 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 914 or the current from the battery 914. The battery parameters can be used to determine actions that the platform 900 can perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0081] A power brick or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 914. In some examples, the power brick can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to wirelessly obtain power, for example, via a loop antenna in the computer platform 900. In these examples, wireless battery charging circuitry can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 914 and, therefore, the required current. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium.

[0082] The user interface circuit 920 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 900, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 900 and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to implement interaction with peripheral components of the platform 900. The user interface circuit 920 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). Output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators, such as binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as a display device or touch screen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, a projector, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of platform 900. Output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printers, etc. In some embodiments, sensor 922 may function as an input device circuit (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may function as output device circuitry (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, NFC circuitry may be included to read electronic tags and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry comprising an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power port, etc.

[0083] Although not shown, the components of the platform 900 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.

[0084] Figure 10 An exemplary architecture of a system 1000 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an exemplary 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 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.

[0085] like Figure 10 As shown, system 1000 includes UE 1022 and UE 1020. In this example, UE 1022 and UE 1020 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen 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, smartphones, 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), heads-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), connected or “smart” appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0086] 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-term connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0087] UE 1022 and UE 1020 may be configured to connect, e.g., be 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, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN," etc., may refer to an (R)AN 1008 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN," etc., 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 of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0088] In this example, connection 1004 and connection 1002 are air interfaces to achieve communication coupling and can 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 can also directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 1010. The ProSe interface 1010 can alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface 110 and can include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

[0089] 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 (Wi-Fi). ) 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 can be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 1020 in RRC_CONNECTED being 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 over 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.

[0090] (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," and the like may describe equipment 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 BSs, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs, or TRPs, 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 RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) operating in NR or SG systems, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., eNBs) operating in LTE or 4G systems 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.

[0091] 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 split, 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 split, 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" split, 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 the 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 ( Figure 10 1008 ) is connected to a separate gNB-DU (not shown) connected to the gNB-CU. In these embodiments, 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 CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally 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 terminations 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 or function as an RSU.

[0092] 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, where 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, an RSU is a computing device coupled to RF circuitry located on the roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicular 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. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communications and other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide a connection to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuits may be packaged in a weatherproof 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.

[0093] 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 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.

[0094] 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 using OFDM communication signals over a multi-carrier communication channel in accordance with 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. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0095] 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 time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink per time slot. This type of time-frequency plane representation is common for OFDM systems and makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of 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 multiple resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0096] 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) over 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, while the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz frequency band.

[0097] 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 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.

[0098] LBT is a mechanism for equipment (e.g., UE 1022 and UE 1020, RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016, etc.) to sense the 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 CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel 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 intended transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0099] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism known as 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 transmitting. In addition, in the event that more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a collision occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to CSMA / CA for WLAN. In some implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values of the CWS for 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.

[0100] 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 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, resulting in a maximum aggregate bandwidth of 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 can have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are generally the same for DL and UL.

[0101] 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. The other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing the PCC may require the UE 1022 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in 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 starting positions within the same subframe.

[0102] 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 associated with the PDSCH channel. It may also inform UE 1022 and UE 1020 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information associated with 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.

[0103] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples, 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 the 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).

[0104] 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 a set of nine physical resource elements, called EREGs, including four physical resource elements. In some cases, an ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0105] 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 implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface and may be used to convey information regarding the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information regarding user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information regarding successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs for user data from the SeNB to the UE 1022; information regarding PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 1022; information regarding the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C provides intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0106] In embodiments where system 1000 is an SG or NR system (e.g., when CN 1006 is an SGC), 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 an SGC, between a RAN node 1014 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to an SGC, and / or between two eNBs connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 1006). In some implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U interface may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functionality. The Xn-C interface may provide management and error handling functionality for managing the functionality of the Xn-C interface. Mobility support for UE 1022 in connected mode (e.g., CM connection) includes functionality for managing connected-mode UE mobility between one or more RAN nodes 1014 or RAN nodes 1016. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 1014 to the new (target) serving RAN node 1016, as well as control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 1014 and the new (target) serving RAN node 1016. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer built on top of the UDP and / or IP layers 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 built on top of the IP layer and provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Within the transport IP layer, signaling PDUs are delivered using point-to-point transport. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0107] (R)AN 1008 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network—in this embodiment, 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 virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0108] Generally speaking, 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 networking services, etc.) for the UE 1022 and the UE 1020 via the EPC. The application server 1018 may communicate with the CN 1006 via the IP communication interface 1036.

[0109] 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 the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and the UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 1028, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 1014 or RAN node 1016 and the AMF.

[0110] 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.

[0111] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a component 1100 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 exemplary embodiments. Specifically, Figure 11 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1102 is shown, including one or more processors 1106 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1114, and one or more communication resources 1124, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1116. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1122 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1102.

[0112] Processor 1106 (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 1108 and processor 1110.

[0113] The memory / storage device 1114 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1114 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.

[0114] The communication resources 1124 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1104 or one or more databases 1120 via the network 1118. For example, the communication resources 1124 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Components (e.g. Low power consumption), Wi- components and other communication components.

[0115] The instructions 1112 may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an application, or other executable code for causing at least one of the processors 1106 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 1112 may reside, in whole or in part, within at least one of the processors 1106 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1114, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1112 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1102 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1104 or the database 1120. Thus, the memory of the processor 1106, the memory / storage device 1114, the peripheral devices 1104, and the database 1120 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0116] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0117] Examples

[0118] The following examples relate to additional embodiments.

[0119] Embodiment 1 is a method for a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network. The method includes: determining a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration of a carrier of a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG) for dual connectivity (DC); and moving between an SCG activation state and an SCG deactivation state based on the BWP configuration.

[0120] Example 2 includes the method according to Example 1, further including: identifying that the first BWP of the PSCell of the SCG includes an SCG deactivation configuration; moving from the SCG activation state to the SCG deactivation state in response to a first message from the wireless network switching from the second BWP of the PSCell of the SCG to the first BWP; and moving from the SCG deactivation state to the SCG activation state in response to a second message from the wireless network switching from the first BWP to the second BWP.

[0121] Embodiment 3 includes the method of embodiment 2, wherein the first message and the second message include radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0122] Embodiment 4 includes a method according to embodiment 2, wherein the first BWP including the SCG deactivation configuration is associated with a BWP identifier (ID), and wherein the first message and the second message include a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0123] Embodiment 5 includes the method of embodiment 4, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is received from a master cell group (MCG).

[0124] Embodiment 6 includes the method of embodiment 4, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is from the SCG and relayed via the MCG.

[0125] Embodiment 7 includes the method according to embodiment 2, further comprising: identifying that the secondary cell (SCell) of the SCG is configured with a third BWP for operating in the SCG deactivated state; and determining at least one of the periodicity of periodic reporting for channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission and the uplink resources for periodic reporting for channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission from the SCG deactivation configuration of the first BWP of the PSCell.

[0126] Embodiment 8 includes the method according to embodiment 7, further comprising: receiving an indication from the wireless network to use a dormant BWP configuration for the SCell in the SCG deactivated state; if the third BWP is not configured, using the BWP configuration for operation of the SCell in the SCG deactivated state; and if neither the third BWP nor the dormant BWP configuration is configured, the SCell is considered to be deactivated.

[0127] Embodiment 9 includes the method according to embodiment 1, further comprising: determining that the BWP configuration of the carrier of the PSCell is associated with the SCG deactivation state based on a message from the wireless network; moving the UE to the SCG deactivation state of the SCG; and performing one or more SCG deactivation actions regardless of the specific BWP currently used by the UE.

[0128] Embodiment 10 includes the method according to embodiment 9, further comprising determining at least one of a periodicity of periodic reporting for channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission and an uplink resource for periodic reporting for channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission from the BWP configuration.

[0129] Embodiment 11 includes the method of embodiment 9, wherein the message comprises radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0130] Embodiment 12 includes the method of embodiment 9, wherein the message comprises a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0131] Embodiment 13 includes the method of embodiment 12, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is received from a master cell group (MCG).

[0132] Embodiment 14 includes the method of embodiment 12, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is from the SCG and relayed via the MCG.

[0133] Embodiment 15 includes the method according to embodiment 1, further comprising processing a message from the wireless network to determine whether to activate the SCG or to remain deactivated when the UE transitions from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode to an RRC connected mode, wherein the message further comprises one or more available PSCell actions based on the SCG deactivation configuration.

[0134] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to embodiment 15, wherein the message includes an RRC resume (RRCResume) message, and the RRCResume message indicates that the SCG will remain in the SCG deactivated state when the RRC connected mode is restored.

[0135] Embodiment 17 includes a method according to embodiment 15, wherein the SCG deactivation configuration includes secondary cell (SCell) information to indicate which SCells of the multiple SCells of the SCG will be in a new state in which the wireless network expects SCell feedback when the SCG is in the SCG deactivation state.

[0136] Embodiment 18 includes a method according to embodiment 17, wherein the SCell feedback includes at least one of the following: a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on the SCell, a channel state information (CSI) feedback of the SCell on the PSCell, and CSI feedback of the SCell for transmitting PSCell feedback.

[0137] Embodiment 19 includes the method according to embodiment 17, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the SCell information further indicates which SCells of the multiple SCells of the SCG are to remain in a dormant state.

[0138] Embodiment 20 includes the method according to embodiment 15, further comprising: in the transition from the RRC inactive mode to the RRC connected mode, sending a user preference request to the wireless network to indicate at least one of the following: the saved SCG configuration, the preference to deactivate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode, and the preference to activate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode.

[0139] Embodiment 21 includes the method according to embodiment 20, wherein the user preference request is in an RRC resume (RRCResume) message.

[0140] Embodiment 22 includes the method of embodiment 20, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the user preference request is in an RRCConnectionResume message.

[0141] Embodiment 23 includes the method according to embodiment 1, further comprising: when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, sending a request to the wireless network to move to the SCG deactivated state.

[0142] Embodiment 24 includes a method according to embodiment 23, wherein the request includes one of the following: a UE assistance information message sent to a primary cell (Pcell) of a primary cell group (MCG) or another cell; the UE assistance information message sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG using transparent forwarding via the MCG; a message sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG via signaling radio bearer 3 (SRB3); or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to the MCG or to the SCG.

[0143] Embodiment 25 includes the method of embodiment 23, further comprising waiting a predetermined period of time before repeating the request.

[0144] Embodiment 26 includes a method according to embodiment 1, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network and a master cell group (MCG) is in either the LTE network or a new radio (NR) network, the method further comprising sending an LTE UE assistance information radio resource control (RRC) message to indicate a request for activation or deactivation of the SCG.

[0145] Embodiment 27 includes the method of embodiment 26, further comprising processing a timer that prohibits the UE from repeating the request until the timer expires.

[0146] Embodiment 28 is a user equipment comprising means for processing each of the steps according to any one of embodiments 1 to embodiment 27.

[0147] Embodiment 29 is a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for implementing a method in a wireless network, the method comprising: providing a bandwidth part (BWP) configuration of a carrier of a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG) for dual connectivity (DC) to a user equipment (UE); and moving the UE between an SCG activation state and an SCG deactivation state based on the BWP configuration.

[0148] Embodiment 30 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 29, wherein the first BWP of the PSCell of the SCG includes an SCG deactivation configuration, and the method wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: generate a first message to the UE to switch from the second BWP of the PSCell of the SCG to the first BWP to move the UE from the SCG activation state to the SCG deactivation state; and generate a second message to the UE to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP to move the UE from the SCG deactivation state to the SCG activation state.

[0149] Embodiment 31 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 30, wherein the first message and the second message include radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0150] Embodiment 32 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 30, wherein the first BWP including the SCG deactivation configuration is associated with a BWP identifier (ID), and wherein the first message and the second message include a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0151] Embodiment 33 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 30, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to configure a third BWP of a secondary cell (SCell) of the SCG to operate in a deactivated state of the SCG.

[0152] Embodiment 34 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 29, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: send a message to the UE that the BWP configuration of the carrier of the PSCell is associated with the SCG deactivation state, wherein the BWP configuration indicates at least one of the periodicity of periodic reporting for channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission and the uplink resources for periodic reporting for channel state information (SCI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission.

[0153] Embodiment 35 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 34, wherein the message comprises radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0154] Embodiment 36 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 34, wherein the message comprises a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0155] Embodiment 37 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 36, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is received from a master cell group (MCG).

[0156] Embodiment 38 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 36, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is from the SCG and relayed via the MCG.

[0157] Embodiment 39 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 29, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: send a message to the UE indicating whether to activate the SCG or to remain deactivated when the UE transitions from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode to an RRC connected mode, wherein the message also includes one or more available PSCell actions based on the SCG deactivation configuration.

[0158] Embodiment 40 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 39, wherein the message includes an RRC resume (RRCResume) message, the RRCResume message indicating that the SCG will remain in the SCG deactivated state when the RRC connected mode is resumed.

[0159] Embodiment 41 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 39, wherein the SCG deactivation configuration includes secondary cell (SCell) information to indicate which SCells of the multiple SCells of the SCG will be in a new state for SCell feedback when the SCG is in the SCG deactivation state.

[0160] Embodiment 42 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 41, wherein the SCell feedback includes at least one of the following: a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on the SCell, a channel state information (CSI) feedback of the SCell on the PSCell, and a CSI feedback of the SCell for transmitting PSCell feedback.

[0161] Embodiment 43 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 41, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the SCell information further indicates which of the multiple SCells of the SCG are to remain in a dormant state.

[0162] Embodiment 44 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 39, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: receive a user preference request from the UE in the transition from the RRC inactive mode to the RRC connected mode, the user preference request indicating at least one of: the saved SCG configuration, the preference to deactivate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode, and the preference to activate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode.

[0163] Embodiment 45 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 44, wherein the user preference request is in an RRC resume (RRCResume) message.

[0164] Embodiment 46 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 44, wherein the SCG is in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the user preference request is in an RRCConnectionResume message.

[0165] Embodiment 47 includes the computer-readable medium of embodiment 29, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to receive a request from the UE to move to the SCG deactivated state when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state.

[0166] Embodiment 48 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 47, wherein the request includes one of the following: a UE assistance information message sent to a primary cell (Pcell) of a primary cell group (MCG) or another cell; the UE assistance information message sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG using transparent forwarding via the MCG; a message sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG via signaling radio bearer 3 (SRB3); or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) to the MCG or to the SCG.

[0167] Embodiment 49 includes a computer-readable medium according to embodiment 29, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network and a master cell group (MCG) is in either the LTE network or a new radio (NR) network, the method wherein the instructions further configure the computer to receive an LTE UE assistance information radio resource control (RRC) message from the UE, the LTE UE assistance information RRC message indicating a request for activation or deactivation of the SCG.

[0168] Embodiment 50 may include an apparatus comprising means 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.

[0169] Embodiment 51 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.

[0170] Embodiment 52 may include an apparatus 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.

[0171] Embodiment 53 may include methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or parts or components thereof.

[0172] Embodiment 54 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, or process, or portion thereof, described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0173] Embodiment 55 may include signals or parts or components thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0174] Embodiment 56 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU) or message or a portion or component thereof as in any of the above embodiments or in connection therewith, or other aspects described in the present disclosure.

[0175] Embodiment 57 may include a signal encoded with data or a portion or component thereof as in any of the above embodiments or in connection therewith, or other aspects described in this disclosure.

[0176] Embodiment 58 may include a signal or portion or component thereof encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as in any of the above embodiments or in connection therewith, or other aspects described in the present disclosure.

[0177] Embodiment 59 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 portion thereof, as described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0178] Embodiment 60 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 portion thereof, as described in or related to any one of the above embodiments.

[0179] Embodiment 61 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0180] Embodiment 13C may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0181] Embodiment 62 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0182] Embodiment 63 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0183] Unless expressly 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 forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the various embodiments.

[0184] 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-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0185] It should be understood that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into a single system, partially integrated 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 can be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be understood that unless otherwise stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. can be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0186] 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 authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0187] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes 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 of implementing both the processes and the apparatus described herein. The embodiments of the present invention are therefore to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the description is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the method comprising: Determine the bandwidth part BWP configuration of the carrier of the primary and secondary cells (PSCells) of the secondary cell group (SCG) for dual connectivity (DC); as well as Move between an SCG activated state and an SCG deactivated state based on the BWP configuration, The method further comprises: A first BWP of the PSCell identifying the SCG includes an SCG deactivation configuration; In response to a first message from the wireless network to switch from the second BWP of the PSCell of the SCG to the first BWP, moving from the SCG activated state to the SCG deactivated state, Processing a message from the wireless network to determine whether to activate the SCG or to keep the SCG deactivated when the UE transitions from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode to an RRC connected mode, wherein the message also includes one or more available PSCell actions based on an SCG deactivation configuration, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the SCG deactivation configuration includes secondary cell (SCell) information, the SCell information indicating which of the multiple SCells of the SCG are to remain in a dormant state.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: In response to a second message from the wireless network to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP, moving from the SCG deactivated state to the SCG activated state. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first message and the second message comprise Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first BWP including the SCG deactivation configuration is associated with a BWP identifier (ID), and wherein, The first message and the second message include a medium access control MAC control element CE or downlink control information DCI. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is received from a master cell group (MCG). The method according to claim 4 , wherein the MAC CE or the DCI comes from the SCG and is relayed via a master cell group (MCG).

7. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: Identifying that a secondary cell (SCell) of the SCG is configured with a third BWP for operating in a deactivated state of the SCG; as well as At least one of a periodicity of periodic reporting and an uplink resource for transmission of channel state information (CSI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) is determined from the SCG deactivation configuration of the first BWP of the PSCell.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: receiving, from the wireless network, an indication to use a dormant BWP configuration for the SCell in the SCG deactivated state; If the third BWP is not configured, configuring the BWP for operation of the SCell in the SCG deactivated state; as well as If neither the third BWP nor the dormant BWP configuration is configured, the SCell is considered to be deactivated.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on a message from the wireless network, that the BWP configuration of the carrier of the PSCell is associated with the SCG deactivated state; Moving the UE to the SCG deactivated state of the SCG; as well as One or more SCG deactivation actions are performed regardless of the specific BWP currently used by the UE. 10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining at least one of periodicity and uplink resources for periodic reporting of channel state information (CSI) or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission from the BWP configuration.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the message comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. 12 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the message comprises a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI). The method according to claim 12 , wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is received from a master cell group (MCG). The method according to claim 12 , wherein the MAC CE or the DCI comes from the SCG and is relayed via a master cell group (MCG).

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises an RRC resume RRCResume message indicating that the SCG will remain in the SCG deactivated state when the RRC connected mode is resumed.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the SCell information indicates which SCells among a plurality of SCells of the SCG will be in a new state in which the wireless network expects SCell feedback when the SCG is in the SCG deactivated state. 17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the SCell feedback comprises at least one of the following: sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on the SCell, channel state information (CSI) feedback of the SCell on the PSCell, and CSI feedback of the SCell for transmitting PSCell feedback.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising: In the transition from the RRC inactive mode to the RRC connected mode, a user preference request is sent to the wireless network to indicate at least one of: the saved SCG configuration, a preference to deactivate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode, and a preference to activate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the user preference request is in an RRC resume RRCResume message.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the SCG is in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the user preference request is in an RRC connection resume (RRCConnectionResume) message.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: When the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, a request for moving to the SCG deactivated state is sent to the wireless network.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the request comprises one of: UE assistance information message sent to the primary cell Pcell of the primary cell group MCG or another cell; The UE assistance information message is sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG using transparent forwarding via the MCG; a message sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG via Signalling Radio Bearer 3 (SRB3); or Medium Access Control MAC Control Element CE to the MCG or to the SCG.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising waiting a predetermined period of time before repeating the request.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the SCG is in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and a master cell group (MCG) is in either the LTE network or a New Radio (NR) network, the method further comprising sending an LTE UE Assistance Information Radio Resource Control (RRC) message to indicate a request for SCG activation or deactivation.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising processing a timer that prohibits the UE from repeating the request until the timer expires.

26. User equipment comprising means for processing each of the steps of any one of claims 1 to 25.

27. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for implementing a method in a wireless network, the method comprising: Provide the user equipment UE with a bandwidth part BWP configuration of a carrier of a primary and secondary cell (PSCell) of a secondary cell group (SCG) for dual connectivity (DC); as well as moving the UE between an SCG activated state and an SCG deactivated state based on the BWP configuration, wherein the first BWP of the PSCell of the SCG includes an SCG deactivation configuration, and wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: generating a first message for switching from the second BWP of the PSCell of the SCG to the first BWP to the UE, so as to move the UE from the SCG activated state to the SCG deactivated state, and Generate a message to the UE indicating whether to activate the SCG or to remain deactivated when the UE transitions from a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode to an RRC connected mode, wherein the message also includes one or more available PSCell actions based on an SCG deactivation configuration, wherein the SCG is in a long term evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the SCG deactivation configuration includes secondary cell (SCell) information, and the SCell information indicates which SCells of the multiple SCells of the SCG are to remain in a dormant state.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: A second message for switching from the first BWP to the second BWP is generated to the UE to move the UE from the SCG deactivated state to the SCG activated state.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the first message and the second message comprise Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the first BWP including the SCG deactivation configuration is associated with a BWP identifier (ID), and wherein the first message and the second message include a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: configure a third BWP of a secondary cell (SCell) of the SCG to operate in the SCG deactivated state.

32. A computer-readable medium according to claim 27, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to: send a message to the UE that the BWP configuration of the carrier of the PSCell is associated with the SCG deactivation state, wherein the BWP configuration indicates at least one of the periodicity and uplink resources for periodic reporting of channel state information CSI or sounding reference signal SRS transmission.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the message comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the message comprises a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI).

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is received from a master cell group (MCG).

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 34, wherein the MAC CE or the DCI is from the SCG and relayed via a master cell group (MCG).

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the message comprises an RRC resume (RRCResume) message indicating that the SCG will remain in the SCG deactivated state when the RRC connected mode is resumed.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the SCell information indicates which SCells among a plurality of SCells of the SCG are to be in a new state for SCell feedback when the SCG is in the SCG deactivated state.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38, wherein the SCell feedback comprises at least one of: a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on the SCell, channel state information (CSI) feedback of the SCell on the PSCell, and CSI feedback of the SCell for transmitting PSCell feedback.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to receive a user preference request from the UE in the transition from the RRC inactive mode to the RRC connected mode, the user preference request indicating at least one of: the saved SCG configuration, a preference to deactivate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode, and a preference to activate the SCG when resuming the RRC connected mode.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the user preference request is in an RRC resume (RRCResume) message.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 40, wherein the SCG is in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, and wherein the user preference request is in an RRC connection resume (RRCConnectionResume) message.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the instructions further configure the computer to receive a request from the UE to move to the SCG deactivated state when the UE is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 43, wherein the request comprises one of: UE assistance information message sent to the primary cell Pcell of the primary cell group MCG or another cell; The UE assistance information message is sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG using transparent forwarding via the MCG; a message sent to the PSCell or another cell of the SCG via Signalling Radio Bearer 3 (SRB3); or Medium Access Control MAC Control Element CE to the MCG or to the SCG.

45. A computer-readable medium according to claim 27, wherein the SCG is in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, and a master cell group (MCG) is in either the LTE network or a New Radio (NR) network, wherein the instructions in the method further configure the computer to receive an LTE UE assistance information radio resource control (RRC) message from the UE, the LTE UE assistance information RRC message indicating a request for SCG activation or deactivation.

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