Method for improving robustness of DCI triggered beam update in 5G NR

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for improving robustness of DCI triggered beam updates in 5G NR. A gNodeB (gNB) may associate a reference signal with a beam pattern (or beam configuration) and prepare downlink control information (DCI) for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the DCI including aperiodic channel state information reference signal (AP CSI-RS) information indicating the beam pattern. A user equipment (UE) may decode the DCI, extract the AP CSI-RS information, update the beam pattern of a reference signal based on the AP CSI-RS information, and generate an uplink (UL) feedback message indicating that the PDCCH has been successfully decoded by the UE. The gNB may then decode the uplink (UL) feedback message and, in response, update a receive (RX) beam of the gNB to correspond to the beam pattern associated with the reference signal.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with an application date of May 1, 2020, application number 202080031732.0, and titled “Method for Improving the Robustness of DCI-Triggered Beam Updates in 5G NR”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 842,006, filed on May 2, 2019, entitled “METHODS OF IMPROVING THEROBUSTNESS FOR DCI TRIGGERED BEAM UPDATE IN 5G NR,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0004] The present application relates generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to improving the robustness of DCI-triggered beam updates in 5G NR. Background Art

[0005] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is generally referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless local area networks (WLANs), which is generally referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP radio access network (RAN) in an 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, an enhanced Node B, an eNodeB, or an eNB) and / or a radio network controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device referred to as a user equipment (UE). In the fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes may include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also called next generation Node B or g NodeB (gNB)).

[0006] The RAN uses radio access technologies (RATs) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN may include a global system for mobile communications (GSM), an enhanced data rate for GSM evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), and / or an E-UTRAN, which provides access to communication services through a core network. Each RAN in the RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RAT, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RAT or other 3GPP RAT, E-UTRAN implements LTE RAT, and NG-RAN implements 5G RAT. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement 5G RAT.

[0007] The frequency bands for 5G NR can be divided into two different frequency ranges. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) includes frequency bands below 6 GHz, some of which may be used by previous standards but can potentially be expanded to cover potential new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 have a shorter range but higher available bandwidth than the frequency bands in FR1. The skilled person will recognize that these frequency ranges, which are provided by way of example, may vary from time to time or region to region. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] 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.

[0009] Figure 1 A diagram showing an example of using DCI to update beams associated with spatial RSs for UE TX beam switching is shown according to an embodiment.

[0010] Figure 2 A diagram showing another example of using DCI to update beam information associated with an explicitly configured PL RS for PL is shown according to an embodiment.

[0011] Figure 3 A sequence between a UE and a gNB using a DCI that triggers APCSI-RS information for beam updating is shown according to an implementation.

[0012] Figure 4 A method for a gNB using DCI that triggers AP CSI-RS information for beam updating according to an implementation is shown.

[0013] Figure 5 A system according to one embodiment is shown.

[0014] Figure 6 An apparatus according to one embodiment is shown.

[0015] Figure 7 An exemplary interface according to one embodiment is shown.

[0016] Figure 8 An exemplary service-based architecture is shown in accordance with certain embodiments.

[0017] Fig. 9 A UE according to one embodiment is shown.

[0018] Fig.10 A network node according to one embodiment is shown.

[0019] Fig.11 A process according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0020] Fig.12 Another process according to embodiments herein is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so that the description of various embodiments will not be obscured by unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0022] In 5G NR frequency range 2 (FR2), user equipment (UE) is able to apply antenna array-based analog beamforming for downlink (DL) reception and uplink (UL) transmission. For UL transmission, the transmit antenna array setting (sometimes referred to as "spatial domain transmit (TX) filter setting" by, for example, 3GPP specifications) is determined by a spatial reference signal (RS) indicated by higher layers from the network to the UE (e.g., by a MAC control element or radio resource control (RRC)). In order to transmit a specific UL channel (sounding reference signal (SRS) / physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) / physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) etc.), after determining the spatial reference signal (spatial RS) for the dedicated UL channel (synchronization signal block (SSB) / channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) / SRS), the UE should use the same spatial domain TX filter setting used to receive (or transmit) the identified spatial reference signal to transmit the specific UL channel. Since the communication between the UE performing TX and the gNB performing reception (RX) relies on beams, dynamic reselection of the spatial RS is required to allow switching of the gNB beam and the UE beam during UE mobility (when the propagation angle changes).

[0023] In addition, for 5G NR FR2, on the UE side, in order to calculate the expected transmission power for transmitting UL channels (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), etc.), the UE can measure the path loss value based on the received DL signal and compensate for the path loss in the UL transmission power calculation. In contrast to the case of 4G LTE, in 5G NR, due to UL beamforming, the DL reference signals that can be used for path loss calculation are also beam-dependent and need to be dynamically reselected. Since each UL channel can be associated with a different gNB beam, for each target UL channel, the gNB can explicitly configure a dedicated DL reference signal as a path loss (PL) reference signal for path loss measurement.

[0024] Beam information associated with spatial RS and / or PL RS may be explicitly or implicitly updated by downlink control information (DCI) carried by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). For example, for spatial RS, RRC may explicitly preconfigure an aperiodic CSI-RS (AP CSI-RS) as a spatial RS for a target UL channel (e.g., PUCCH). Then, the beam information of the spatial RS is updated by dynamically modifying the quasi-co-location (QCL) linking of the preconfigured AP CSI-RS with another DL RS associated with a different beam. As another example of using PL RS, RRC may explicitly preconfigure an aperiodic CSI-RS (AP CSI-RS) as a PL RS for PL measurement of a target UL channel (e.g., SRS). Then, the beam information for PL measurement is updated by dynamically modifying the QCL linking of the preconfigured AP CSI-RS with another DL RS associated with a different beam.

[0025] Figure 1 A diagram 100 showing an example of using DCI to update a beam associated with a spatial RS for UE TX beam switching according to an embodiment is shown. An UL channel (such as PUCCH or SRS 102) is associated with an AP CSI-RS 104, which is pre-configured as a spatial RS for PUCCH or SRS 102. The AP CSI-RS QCLinfo in the DCI is then dynamically modified to indicate that the AP CSI-RS 104 is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with, for example, one of a tracking reference signal (TRS) such as TRS1 106 (which is QCLed with SSB1 gNB beam 1 112), TRS2 108 (which is QCLed with SSB2 gNB beam 2 114), etc. up through TRS32 110 (which is QCLed with SSB32 gNB beam 32 116).

[0026] Figure 2A diagram 200 showing another example of using DCI to update beam information associated with an explicitly configured PL RS for PL is shown according to an embodiment. A target UL channel (such as PUSCH or PUCCH or SRS or PRACH 202) is associated with an AP CSI-RS 204 (which is configured as a PL RS). The QCLInfo of the AP CSI-RS triggered by the DCI may be modified to accommodate the UL beam. The QCLInfo may be dynamically modified to indicate that the AP CSI-RS 204 is QCLed with, for example, one of a positioning reference signal (P-RS) such as P-RS1 (e.g., SSB1) of beam 1 206 gNB, P-RS2 (e.g., SSB2) of gNB beam 2 208, etc. upward through P-RS64 (e.g., SSB64) of gNB beam 64 210.

[0027] When performing these DCI-based beam updates for spatial RS or PL RS, the UE may not detect the PDCCH carrying the DCI that triggers the AP CSI-RS and updates its QCL information. As a result, the UE does not receive the beam update information and does not update the UE TX beam. However, since the gNB does not know whether the UE has detected the PDCCH, the gNB may assume that the UE has updated the UE TX beam and update the gNB RX beam accordingly. This may result in beam mismatch between the UE TX and gNB RX, which further degrades the UL performance.

[0028] Various embodiments disclosed herein provide improvements in the robustness of DCI-triggered beam updates in 5G NR, especially for UL spatial RS and PL RS.

[0029] In some embodiments, the DCI that triggers the AP CSI-RS information for beam updating is extended to further include the triggering of the aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS). The AP SRS is spatially associated with the AP CSI-RS within the same DCI. After the UE decodes the PDCCH, the UE updates the TX beam based on the AP CSI-RS information. In addition, the UE also transmits the triggered AP SRS back to the base station and confirms the safe decoding of the PDCCH to the base station. By receiving the AP SRS, the gNB receives this confirmation from the UE and can therefore safely update the gNB RX beam accordingly.

[0030] In some embodiments, UE acknowledgement of successful decoding of such PDCCH may also be indicated by sending a PRACH signal to the base station, where the PRACH signal is associated with the AP CSI-RS from the DCI.

[0031] Robust UL beam switching and PL measurements in high mobility and low SNR scenarios can achieve UL performance improvement in FR2.

[0032] To improve the robustness of DCI triggered beam updates in 5G NR, especially for aperiodic (dynamic) beam updates of UL spatial RS and PL RS, various embodiments provide that the DCI that triggers the AP CSI-RS information for beam updates may also contain a trigger of an aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS), where the AP SRS is spatially associated with the AP CSI-RS within the same DCI. When decoding the DCI from the detected PDCCH, the UE can then update the TX beam based on the triggered AP CSI-RS information and can also transmit the triggered AP SRS to the base station. By receiving the AP SRS, the gNB obtains confirmation that the PDCCH has been successfully decoded by the UE and the gNB can therefore safely update the gNB RX beam accordingly.

[0033] Figure 3 A sequence 300 is shown between a UE 302 and a gNB 304 for using a DCI that triggers AP CSI-RS information for beam updating according to an embodiment. In communication 306, the gNB 304 sends a PDCCH to the UE 302 carrying a DCI that triggers the AP CSI-RS with updated beam information as well as the AP SRS (within the same DCI).

[0034] In process 308, the UE (1) detects the PDCCH and decodes the DCI; (2) extracts the AP CSI-RS information from the determined DCI; (3) updates the beam configuration of the PL RS or spatial RS associated with the triggered AP CSI-RS; and (4) extracts the AP SRS information from the decoded DCI.

[0035] In communication 310, UE 302 transmits a triggered AP SRS to a base station. The triggered AP SRS may be an AP SRS generated using AP SRS information extracted from the decoded DCI. The base station may be, for example, gNB 304.

[0036] In process 312, the gNB 304 detects reception of a triggered AP SRS; when the AP SRS is detected, the gNB updates its RX beam for UL reception.

[0037] Figure 4A method 400 for a gNB using a DCI that triggers AP CSI-RS information for beam updating is shown in accordance with an embodiment. In block 402, the gNB determines a new beam pattern. In block 404, the gNB determines the AP CSR-RS associated with the new beam pattern. In block 406, the gNB allocates a PDCCH to trigger the AP CSI-RS and APSRS within the same DCI. In block 408, the gNB waits for receipt of a triggered AP SRS. In decision block 410, the gNB determines whether the APSRS has been received. If not, the gNB returns to block 404. If the AP SRS has been received, the gNB proceeds to block 412 and updates the UL beam on the gNB side.

[0038] Additionally or alternatively, the UE may send a PRACH signal back to the base station to confirm that the DCI (and beam update information) was securely decoded. The UE TX beam used to send the PRACH signal may be associated with the AP CSI-RS triggered by the DCI. In this embodiment, the PRACH resources of the present invention may be pre-configured to the UE by the gNB. It may be a UE-specific contention-free (CF) PRACH. The PRACH resource pre-configuration may be transmitted via a higher layer message from the base station to the UE, for example, via an RRC message. In certain embodiments, the PRACH preamble sequence is associated with the use of a DCI-triggered beam update confirmation.

[0039] In another embodiment, the UE updates the QCL or spatial relationship information of the corresponding downlink / uplink signal, which is QCLed or spatially correlated with the AP CSI-RS in time slot n+K, where the uplink signal triggered by DCI (e.g., SRS, PUSCH, etc.) is transmitted in time slot n. If there are multiple uplink signals triggered by DCI, or if the uplink signal triggered by DCI occupies multiple time slots, time slot n may indicate the time slot including the first (or alternatively, the last) symbol of the uplink signal. The value of K may be predefined or configured by higher layer signaling and may be determined by the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth part in the PDCCH bandwidth part and / or the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth part with the scheduled uplink signal.

[0040] Figure 5An exemplary architecture of a system 500 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an exemplary system 500 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard, and the embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G)) systems, IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0041] like Figure 5 As shown, system 500 includes UE 502 and UE 504. In this example, UE 502 and UE 504 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smart phones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (ICs), 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 control units (ECUs), electronic / engine control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0042] In some embodiments, UE 502 and / or UE 504 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0043] UE 502 and UE 504 may be configured to be connected, e.g., communicatively coupled, to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R) AN 516). In an embodiment, (R) AN 516 may be an NG RAN or SG RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a traditional RAN, such as a UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to an (R) AN 516 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to an (R) AN 516 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UE 502 and UE 504 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 506 and connection 508, respectively), each connection comprising a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0044] In this example, connection 506 and connection 508 are air interfaces to achieve communication coupling and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a SG protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, UE 502 and UE 504 may also exchange communication data directly via a ProSe interface 510. The ProSe interface 510 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface SSB1 gNB beam 1 112, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0045] UE 504 is shown as being configured to access AP 512 (also referred to as a "WLAN node," "WLAN," "WLAN terminal," "WT," etc.) via connection 514. Connection 514 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 512 would include wireless fidelity router. In this example, AP 512 may be connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 504, (R) AN 516, and AP 512 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 504 in RRC_CONNECTED configured by RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 504 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 514) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent through connection 514. 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.

[0046] (R)AN 516 may include one or more AN nodes, such as RAN node 518 and RAN node 520, that implement connection 506 and connection 508. As used herein, the terms "access node", "access point", etc. may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functions for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP or TRP, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) operating in NR or SG systems, while the terms "E-UTRAN nodes" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., eNBs) operating in LTE or 4G systems 500. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 518 or the RAN node 520 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as macrocell base stations and / or low power (LP) base stations for providing femtocells, picocells or other similar cells with smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than macrocells.

[0047] In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splits, such as PDCP splits, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 518 or RAN node 520); MAC / PHY splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 518 or RAN node 520); or "lower PHY" splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and upper portions of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portions of the PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes. This virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 to execute other virtualized applications. In some implementations, a separate RAN node may represent a separate F1 interface ( Figure 5In some implementations, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs, and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the (R)AN 516 or by a pool of servers in a manner similar to the CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the RAN node 518 or RAN nodes 520 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to UE 502 and UE 504 and is connected to the SGC via an NG interface (discussed below). In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 may be an RSU or act as an RSU.

[0048] The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, wherein an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU", an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU", and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled to a radio frequency circuit located on the roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuits for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz direct short range communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low latency communications required for high-speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate on a cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communications as well as other cellular communications services. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuitry may be packaged in a weather-resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or backhaul network.

[0049] The RAN node 518 and / or the RAN node 520 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 502 and the UE 504. In some embodiments, the RAN node 518 and / or the RAN node 520 may perform various logical functions of the (R)AN 516, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0050] In an embodiment, UE 502 and UE 504 may be configured to communicate with each other or with RAN node 518 and / or RAN node 520 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0051] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 518 and / or RAN node 520 to UE 502 and UE 504, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice, which makes wireless resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0052] According to various embodiments, UE 502 and UE 504 and RAN node 518 and / or RAN node 520 communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data through a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed frequency band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed frequency band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, and the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz frequency band.

[0053] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UE 502 and UE 504 and RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these specific implementations, UE 502 and UE 504 and RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 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.

[0054] LBT is a mechanism for equipment (e.g., UE 502 and UE 504, RAN node 518 or RAN node 520, etc.) to sense a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an expected transmission band, and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0055] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs use a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 502, AP 512, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmission. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits at the same time, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid conflicts. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a conflict occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLAN. In some specific implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have a LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS of LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0056] The LAA mechanism is built on the CA technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers can be different for DL ​​and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth from other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0057] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may be different, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL, and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. Other serving cells are referred to as SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing PCCs may require the UE 502 to undergo a switch. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in an unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and the LAA SCells are assisted by the PCells operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start positions within the same subframe.

[0058] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to the UE 502 and UE 504. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It may also inform the UE 502 and UE 504 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 504 within the cell) may be performed at either the RAN node 518 or the RAN node 520 based on channel quality information fed back from either the UE 502 and UE 504. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the UE 502 and UE 504.

[0059] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0060] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, referred to as EREG. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0061] The RAN node 518 or the RAN node 520 may be configured to communicate with each other via an interface 522. In an embodiment where the system 500 is an LTE system (e.g., when the CN 530 is an EPC), the interface 522 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some specific implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface, and may be used to transmit information about the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information about the successful delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 502 in sequence for user data; information about PDCP PDUs that are not delivered to the UE 502; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the Se NB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0062] In an embodiment where the system 500 is a SG or NR system (e.g., when the CN 530 is an SGC), the interface 522 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the SGC, between a RAN node 518 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to the SGC, and / or between two eNBs connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 530). In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for the UE 502 in a connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in a connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 518 or RAN nodes 520. The mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 518 to the new (target) serving RAN node 520; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 518 and the new (target) serving RAN node 520. The protocol stack of Xn-U may include a transport network layer built on an Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of a UDP and / or IP layer for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver signaling PDUs. In other specific implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0063] (R)AN 516 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the core network—in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to CN 530. CN 530 may include one or more network elements 532 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 502 and UE 504) connected to CN 530 via (R)AN 516. The components of CN 530 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-mentioned network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 530 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 530 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0064] In general, the application server 534 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 534 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social network services, etc.) for UE 502 and UE 504 via the EPC. The application server 534 may communicate with the CN 530 via the IP communication interface 536.

[0065] In an embodiment, CN 530 may be an SGC, and (R)AN SSB32 gNB beam 32116 may be connected to CN 530 via an NG interface 524. In an embodiment, NG interface 524 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 526, which carries traffic data between RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 528, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 518 or RAN node 520 and AMF.

[0066] In an embodiment, CN 530 may be an SG CN, while in other embodiments, CN 530 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 530 is an EPC, the (R)AN SSB32 gNB beam 32116 may be connected to CN 530 via an S1 interface 524. In an embodiment, the S1 interface 524 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 526, which carries traffic data between the RAN node 518 or the RAN node 520 and the S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 528, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 518 or the RAN node 520 and the MME.

[0067] Figure 6 Exemplary components of a device 600 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, the device 600 may include at least an application circuit 602, a baseband circuit 604, a radio frequency (RF) circuit (shown as RF circuit 620), a front-end module (FEM) circuit (shown as FEM circuit 630), one or more antennas 632, and a power management circuit (PMC) (shown as PMC 634) coupled together as shown in the figure. The components of the illustrated device 600 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 600 may include fewer elements (for example, the RAN node may not utilize the application circuit 602, but include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 600 may include additional elements, such as a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the following components may be included in more than one device (for example, the circuit may be separately included in more than one device for a specific implementation of a cloud-RAN (C-RAN)).

[0068] The application circuit 602 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuit 602 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). These processors may be coupled to or may include memory / storage devices, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage devices to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 600. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuit 602 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0069] The baseband circuit 604 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 604 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 620 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 620. The baseband circuit 604 may interact with the application circuit 602 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 620. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor (3G baseband processor 606), a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor (4G baseband processor 608), a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor (5G baseband processor 610) or other baseband processors 612 of other existing generations, being developed or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuit 604 (e.g., one or more baseband processors in the baseband processor) may handle various radio control functions that can communicate with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 620. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the illustrated baseband processor may be included in a module stored in the memory 618 and executed via the central processing unit (CPU 614). Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions is not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

[0070] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may include a digital signal processor (DSP), such as one or more audio DSPs 616. The one or more audio DSPs 616 may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 604 and the application circuit 602 may be implemented together, such as on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0071] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may support communications with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 604 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0072] RF circuit 620 can communicate with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 620 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 620 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuits for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuit 630 and providing baseband signals to baseband circuit 604. RF circuit 620 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuits for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuit 604 and providing RF output signals for transmission to FEM circuit 630.

[0073] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 620 may include a mixer circuit 622, an amplifier circuit 624, and a filter circuit 626. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 620 may include a filter circuit 626 and a mixer circuit 622. The RF circuit 620 may also include a synthesizer circuit 628 for synthesizing frequencies used by the mixer circuits 622 of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 622 of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 630 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 628. The amplifier circuit 624 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 626 may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 604 for further processing. In some embodiments, although this is not required, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 622 of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0074] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 622 of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 628 to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 630. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 604 and may be filtered by filter circuit 626.

[0075] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 622 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 622 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 622 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 622 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 622 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 622 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 622 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 622 of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0076] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 620 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 604 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuit 620.

[0077] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0078] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 628 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this regard, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 628 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0079] Synthesizer circuit 628 may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on a frequency input and a divider control input for use by mixer circuit 622 of RF circuit 620. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 628 may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0080] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 604 or application circuitry 602 (such as an application processor) according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application circuitry 602.

[0081] The synthesizer circuit 628 of the RF circuit 620 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop set. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0082] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 628 can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 620 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0083] The FEM circuitry 630 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 632, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuitry 620 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 630 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by the RF circuitry 620 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 632. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuitry 620, only in the FEM circuitry 630, or in both the RF circuitry 620 and the FEM circuitry 630.

[0084] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 630 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 630 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 630 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 620). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 630 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 620), and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more of the one or more antennas 632).

[0085] In some embodiments, PMC 634 can manage the power provided to baseband circuit 604. Specifically, PMC 634 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When device 600 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when device 600 is included in a UE, PMC 634 can generally be included. PMC 634 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing a desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

[0086] Figure 6 PMC 634 is shown coupled only to baseband circuitry 604. However, in other embodiments, PMC 634 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components (such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 602, RF circuitry 620, or FEM circuitry 630) and perform similar power management operations for these components.

[0087] In some embodiments, the PMC 634 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 600. For example, if the device 600 is in the RRC_Connected state, where the device is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, then after a period of inactivity, the device may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the device 600 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power.

[0088] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 600 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, handover, etc. The device 600 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 600 cannot receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, the device must transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0089] An additional power saving mode can keep a device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered down. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0090] The processor of the application circuit 602 and the processor of the baseband circuit 604 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 604 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 602 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., transport communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a physical (PHY) layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0091] Figure 7 An exemplary interface 700 of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments is shown. As described above, Figure 6 The baseband circuit 604 may include a 3G baseband processor 606, a 4G baseband processor 608, a 5G baseband processor 610, other baseband processors 612, a CPU 614, and a memory 618 used by the processors. As shown, each of the processors may include a corresponding memory interface 702 for sending / receiving data to / from the memory 618.

[0092] The baseband circuit 604 may also include: one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 704 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 604); an application circuit interface 706 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 604); Figure 6 RF circuit interface 708 (for example, for sending / receiving data to / from the application circuit 602); Figure 6 an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a RF circuit 620); a wireless hardware connection interface 710 (e.g., for sending / receiving data to / from a near field communication (NFC) component, Parts (e.g. Low power consumption), components and other communication components to send / receive data); and a power management interface 712 (for example, an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from PMC 634).

[0093] In certain embodiments, the 5G system architecture supports data connectivity and services, enabling deployment to use technologies such as network function virtualization and software defined networks. The 5G system architecture can utilize service-based interactions between control plane network functions. Separating user plane functions from control plane functions allows independent scalability, evolution, and flexible deployment (e.g., centralized locations or distributed (remote) locations). Modular function design allows functional reuse, and flexible and effective network slicing can be achieved. Network functions and their network function services can interact with another NF and its network function services directly or indirectly via a service communication agent. Another intermediate function can help route control plane messages. The architecture minimizes the dependency between AN and CN. The architecture may include an aggregated core network with a public AN-CN interface that integrates different access types (e.g., 3GPP access and non-3GPP access). The architecture may also support a unified authentication framework, stateless NFs with decoupling of computing resources from storage resources, capability exposure, concurrent access to local and centralized services (to support low-latency services and access to local data networks, user plane functions may be deployed near the AN), and / or roaming in the visited PLMN with both home-routed traffic as well as local breakout traffic.

[0094] The 5G architecture may be defined as service-based, and the interactions between network functions may include a service-based representation, where a network function (e.g., AMF) within the control plane enables other authorized network functions to access its services. The service-based representation may also include a point-to-point reference point. The reference point representation may also be used to show the interactions between NF services in a network function described by a point-to-point reference point (e.g., N11) between any two network functions (e.g., AMF and SMF).

[0095] Figure 8 A service-based architecture 800 in 5GS according to one embodiment is shown. As described in 3GPP TS23.501, the service-based architecture 800 includes NFs such as NSSF 802, NEF 804, NRF 806, PCF 808, UDM 810, AUSF 812, AMF 814, and SMF 816 for communicating with UE 820, (R) AN 822, UPF 824, and DN 826. NFs and NF services can communicate directly (referred to as direct communication) or indirectly via SCP 818 (referred to as indirect communication). Figure 8 Also shown are corresponding service-based interfaces including Nutm, Naf, Nudm, Npcf, Nsmf, Nnrf, Namf, Nnef, Nnssf and Nausf and reference points N1, N2, N3, N4 and N6. Figure 8Some exemplary functions provided by the NF shown.

[0096] The NSSF 802 supports functions such as: selecting a set of network slice instances to serve the UE; determining the allowed NSSAIs and, if necessary, determining the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI; determining the configured NSSAI and, if necessary, determining the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI; and / or determining the set of AMFs to be used to serve the UE, or based on the configuration, possibly determining a list of candidate AMFs by querying the NRF.

[0097] NEF 804 supports the exposure of capabilities and events. NF capabilities and events can be securely exposed by NEF 804 (e.g., for 3rd parties, application functions and / or edge computing). NEF 804 can store / retrieve information as structured data using a standardized interface (Nudr) to UDR. NEF 804 can also securely provide information to the 3GPP network from external applications, and can provide application functions to securely provide information to the 3GPP network (e.g., expected UE behavior, 5GLAN group information, and service-specific information), where NEF 804 can authenticate and authorize and help limit application functions. NEF 804 can provide internal-external information conversion by converting between information exchanged with AF and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 804 converts between AF service identifiers and internal 5G core information (such as DNN and S-NSSAI). NEF 804 can handle the masking of network and user sensitive information of external AF according to network policy. NEF 804 may receive information from other network functions (based on the exposed capabilities of other network functions) and store the received information as structured data using a standardized interface to UDR. The stored information may be accessed by NEF 804 and re-exposed to other network functions and application functions, and used for other purposes such as analysis. For external exposure of services related to a specific UE, NEF 804 may reside in the HPLMN. Depending on the operator agreement, the NEF 804 in the HPLMN may have an interface with the NF in the VPLMN. SCEF+NEF may be used for service exposure when the UE is able to switch between EPC and 5GC.

[0098] The NRF 806 supports the service discovery function by receiving NF discovery requests from NF instances or SCPs and providing information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances or SCPs. The NRF 806 may also support P-CSCF discovery (a special case of SMF discovery of AFs), maintain NF profiles of available NF instances and their supported services, and / or notify subscribed NF service consumers or SCPs of newly registered / updated / deregistered NF instances together with their NF services. In the context of network slicing, multiple NRFs may be deployed at different levels, such as PLMN level (NRF configured with information of the entire PLMN), shared slice level (NRF configured with information belonging to a network slice set), and / or slice-specific level (NRF configured with information belonging to S-NSSAI), based on network specific implementation. In the context of roaming, multiple NRFs may be deployed in different networks, wherein the NRF in the visited PLMN (referred to as vNRF) is configured with information of the visited PLMN, and wherein the NRF in the home PLMN (referred to as hNRF) is configured with information of the home PLMN, referenced by the vNRF via the N27 interface.

[0099] The PCF 808 supports a unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 808 provides policy rules for control plane functions to implement them. The PCF 808 accesses subscription information related to policy decisions in a unified data repository (UDR). The PCF 808 can access a UDR located in the same PLMN as the PCF.

[0100] The UDM 810 supports the generation of 3GPP AKA authentication credentials, user identification processing (e.g., storage and management of SUPI for each subscriber in the 5G system), unhiding of the privacy-preserving subscription identifier (SUCI), access authorization based on subscription data (e.g., roaming restrictions), UE's serving NF registration management (e.g., storing the service AMF for the UE, storing the PDU session storage service SMF for the UE), service / session continuity (e.g., by maintaining the SMF / DNN allocation for ongoing sessions), MT-SMS delivery, lawful interception functions (especially in outbound roaming situations where the UDM is the only contact point for the LI), subscription management, SMS management, 5GLAN group management processing, and / or external parameter configuration (expected UE behavior parameters or network configuration parameters). To provide such functions, the UDM 810 uses subscription data (including authentication data) that can be stored in the UDR, in which case the UDM implements the application logic and may not require internal user data storage, and several different UDMs can serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM 810 can be located in the HPLMN of the subscriber it serves and can access the information of the UDR located in the same PLMN.

[0101] AF 828 interacts with the core network to provide services such as supporting: application impact on traffic routing; access to NEF 804; interaction with the policy framework for policy control; and / or IMS interaction with 5GC. Based on operator deployment, application functions that are considered to be trusted by the operator may be allowed to interact directly with related network functions. Application functions that the operator does not allow direct access to network functions may interact with related network functions using an external exposure framework via NEF 804.

[0102] AUSF 812 supports authentication for 3GPP access and untrusted non-3GPP access. AUSF 812 may also provide support for network slice-specific authentication and authorization.

[0103] AMF 814 supports termination of RAN CP interface (N2), termination of NAS (N1) for NAS encryption and integrity protection, registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception (for AMF events and interfaces to LI systems), transmission of SM messages between UE and SMF, transparent proxy for routing SM messages, access authentication, access authorization, transmission of SMS messages between UE and SMSF, SEAF, location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE and LMF and between RAN and LMF, EPS bearer ID allocation for interworking with EPS, UE mobility event notification, control plane CIoT 5GS optimization, user plane CIoT 5GS optimization, configuration of external parameters (expected UE behavior parameters or network configuration parameters) and / or network slice-specific authentication and authorization. Some or all of the AMF functions may be supported in a single instance of AMF 814. Regardless of the number of network functions, in some embodiments, only one NAS interface instance per access network between UE and CN terminates at one of the network functions that implements at least NAS security and mobility management. AMF 814 may also include policy-related functions.

[0104] In addition to the above functions, AMF 814 may also include the following functions to support non-3GPP access networks: support N2 interface with N3IWF / TNGF, on which some information (e.g., 3GPP cell identity) and procedures (e.g., handover related) defined on 3GPP access may not be applicable, and non-3GPP access specific information not applicable to 3GPP access may be applied; support NAS signaling with UE through N3IWF / TNGF, where some procedures supported by NAS signaling through 3GPP access may not be applicable to untrusted non-3GPP (e.g., paging) access; support verification of UE connected through N3IWF / TNGF; management of mobility, authentication and separate security context states of UE connected via non-3GPP access or simultaneously connected via 3GPP access or non-3GPP access; support coordinated RM management context valid on 3GPP access and non-3GPP access; and / or support dedicated CM management context for UE connected via non-3GPP access. It may not be necessary to support all of the above functions in the instance of network slicing.

[0105] SMF 816 supports session management (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes), UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization) (where the UE IP address can be received from the UPF or from an external data network), DHCPv4 (server and client) and DHCPv6 (server and client) functions, functions for responding to address resolution protocol requests and / or IPv6 neighbor solicitation requests based on local cache information of Ethernet PDUs (e.g., SMF responds to ARP and / or IPv6 neighbor solicitation requests by providing a MAC address corresponding to the IP address sent in the request), selection and control of user plane functions (including controlling UPF to proxy ARP or IPv6 neighbor discovery or forwarding all ARP / IPv6 neighbor solicitation traffic to SMF for Ethernet PDU sessions), traffic steering configuration at UPF to route traffic to the appropriate destination, 5G VN group management (e.g., maintaining the topology of the PSA UPFs involved, in the PSA Establish and publish N19 tunnels between UPFs, configure traffic forwarding at UPF to apply local switching and / or N6-based forwarding or N19-based forwarding), terminate interfaces towards policy control functions, lawful interception (for SM events and interfaces to LI systems), charging data collection and support charging interfaces, control and coordination of charging data collection at UPF, terminate the SM part of NAS messages, downlink data notification, initiator of AN-specific SM information sent to AN via AMF over N2, determination of SSC mode for sessions, control plane CIoT 5GS optimization, header compression, act as I-SMF in deployments where I-SMF can be inserted / removed / relocated, configure external parameters (expected UE behavior parameters or network configuration parameters), P-CSCF discovery for IMS services, roaming functions (e.g., handling local implementation to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN), charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN) and / or lawful interception (in VPLMN for SM events and interface to LI system), interaction with external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authentication / authorization for external DN and / or instructing UPF and NG-RAN to perform redundant transmission on N3 / N9 interface. Some or all of the SMF functions may be supported in a single instance of SMF. However, in some embodiments, not all functions need to be supported in an instance of a network slice. In addition to the functions, SMF 816 may include policy-related functions.

[0106] SCP 818 includes one or more of the following functions: indirect communication; delegated discovery; message forwarding and routing to destination NF / NF service; communication security (e.g., authorization of NF service consumer to access NF service manufacturer API), load balancing, monitoring, overload control, etc.; and / or optionally interacting with UDR to resolve UDM group ID / UDR group ID / AUSF group ID / PCF group ID / CHF group ID / HSS group ID based on UE identity (e.g., SUPI or IMPI / IMPU). Some or all of the SCP functions may be supported in a single instance of SCP. In some embodiments, SCP 818 may be deployed in a distributed manner and / or more than one SCP may be present in the communication path between NF services. SCP may be deployed at PLMN level, shared slice level, and slice-specific level. Operator deployment may be left to ensure that SCP can communicate with relevant NRFs.

[0107] UE 820 may include a device with radio communication capabilities. For example, UE 820 may include a smart phone (e.g., a handheld touch screen mobile computing device that can be connected to one or more cellular networks). UE 820 may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal data assistant (PDA), a pager, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a wireless handheld device, or any computing device including a wireless communication interface. UE is also referred to as a client, a mobile phone, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a user terminal, a mobile unit, a mobile station, a mobile user, a subscriber, a user, a remote station, an access agent, a user agent, a receiver, a radio equipment, a reconfigurable radio equipment, or a reconfigurable mobile device. UE 820 may include an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. IoT UE may utilize technology (e.g., M2M, MTC, or mMTC technology) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a PLMN, other UEs using ProSe or D2D communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure). The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0108] The UE 820 may be configured to be connected or communicatively coupled to the (R)AN 822 via a radio interface 830, which may be a physical communication interface or layer configured to operate with a cellular communication protocol such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a push-to-talk (PTT) protocol, a cellular PTT (POC) protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, a NR protocol, etc. For example, the UE 820 and the (R)AN 822 may use a Uu interface (e.g., an LTE-Uu interface) to exchange control plane data via a protocol stack including a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an RLC layer, a PDCP layer, and an RRC layer. DL transmissions may be from the (R)AN 822 to the UE 820, and UL transmissions may be from the UE 820 to the (R)AN 822. The UE 820 may also communicate directly with another UE (not shown) using a side link for D2D, P2P, and / or ProSe communication. For example, the ProSe interface may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0109] (R)AN 822 may include one or more access nodes, which may be referred to as base stations (BS), node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), next generation node Bs (gNBs), RAN nodes, controllers, transmission reception points (TRPs), etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations, which provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). (R)AN 822 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macro cells, pico cells, femto cells, or other types of cells. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several thousand meters in radius) and may allow unrestricted access to a UE with a service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access to a UE with a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access to a UE associated with the femto cell (e.g., a UE in a closed subscriber group (CSG) , a UE of a user in a home, etc.).

[0110] Although not shown, multiple RAN nodes (such as (R)AN 822) may be used, with an Xn interface defined between two or more nodes. In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 820 in connected mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functions for managing UE mobility in connected mode between one or more (R)AN nodes. The mobility support may include context transfer from an old (source) serving (R)AN node to a new (target) serving (R)AN node; and control of a user plane tunnel between an old (source) serving (R)AN node and a new (target) serving (R)AN node.

[0111] The UPF 824 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the DN 826, and a branch point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 824 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane portion of policy rule enforcement, lawful interception of packets (UP collection); traffic usage reporting, QoS processing for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), uplink traffic validation (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 824 may include an uplink classifier for supporting routing of traffic flows to a data network. The DN 826 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The DN 826 may include, for example, an application server.

[0112] Fig. 9 900 is a block diagram of an example UE 900 that can be configured according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including by executing instructions corresponding to any exemplary method and / or process described herein on a computer-readable medium. The UE 900 includes one or more processors 902, a transceiver 904, a memory 906, a user interface 908, and a control interface 910.

[0113] The one or more processors 902 may include, for example, an application processor, an audio digital signal processor, a central processing unit, and / or one or more baseband processors. Each of the one or more processors 902 may include an internal memory and / or may include an interface for communicating with an external memory (including memory 906). The internal or external memory may store software code, programs, and / or instructions for execution by the one or more processors 902 to configure and / or facilitate the UE 900 to perform various operations, including the operations described herein. For example, the execution of the instructions may configure the UE 900 to communicate using one or more wired or wireless communication protocols (including one or more wireless communication protocols standardized by 3GPP, such as those commonly referred to as 5G / NR, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, HSPA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, etc.) or any other current or future protocol that may be used in conjunction with the one or more transceivers 904, the user interface 908, and / or the control interface 910. For another example, the one or more processors 902 may execute program codes stored in the memory 906 or other memory corresponding to the MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP (e.g., for NR and / or LTE). For another example, the processor 902 may execute program codes stored in the memory 906 or other memory, which together with the one or more transceivers 904 implement corresponding PHY layer protocols, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), and single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA).

[0114] The memory 906 may include a memory area for the one or more processors 902 to store variables used in protocols, configurations, controls, and other functions of the UE 900 (including operations corresponding to or including any of the example methods and / or processes described herein). In addition, the memory 906 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), or a combination thereof. In addition, the memory 906 may interact with a memory slot through which removable memory cards of one or more formats (e.g., SD card, memory stick, compact flash, etc.) may be inserted and removed.

[0115] The one or more transceivers 904 may include radio frequency transmitter and / or receiver circuits that facilitate the UE 900 to communicate with other equipment supporting similar wireless communication standards and / or protocols. For example, the one or more transceivers 904 may include switches, mixer circuits, amplifier circuits, filter circuits, and synthesizer circuits. Such RF circuits may include a receive signal path having a circuit for down-converting an RF signal received from a front-end module (FEM) and providing a baseband signal to a baseband processor of the one or more processors 902. The RF circuit may also include a transmit signal path, which may include a circuit for up-converting a baseband signal provided by a baseband processor and providing an RF output signal for transmission to the FEM. The FEM may include a receive signal path, which may include a circuit configured to operate on an RF signal received from one or more antennas, amplify the receive signal, and provide an amplified version of the receive signal to the RF circuit for further processing. The FEM may also include a transmit signal path, which may include a circuit configured to amplify a transmission signal provided by the RF circuit for transmission by one or more antennas. In various embodiments, amplification through the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished in the RF circuitry only, in the FEM only, or in both the RF circuitry and the FEM circuitry. In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation.

[0116] In some exemplary embodiments, the one or more transceivers 904 include transmitters and receivers that enable the device 1200 to communicate with various 5G / NR networks according to various protocols and / or methods proposed for standardization by 3GPP and / or other standards bodies. For example, such functionality may operate in cooperation with the one or more processors 902 to implement a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA techniques, such as described herein with reference to other figures.

[0117] The user interface 908 may take various forms according to a particular embodiment, or may not be present in the UE 900. In some embodiments, the user interface 908 includes a microphone, a speaker, a slidable button, a depressible button, a display, a touch screen display, a mechanical or virtual keypad, a mechanical or virtual keyboard, and / or any other user interface feature that is typically present on a mobile phone. In other embodiments, the UE 900 may include a tablet computing device with a larger touch screen display. In such embodiments, one or more of the mechanical features of the user interface 908 may be replaced by a virtual user interface feature (e.g., a virtual keypad, a virtual button, etc.) that is equivalent or functionally equivalent to that implemented using a touch screen display, as is familiar to those of ordinary skill in the art. In other embodiments, the UE 900 may be a digital computing device, such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a workstation, etc., which includes a mechanical keyboard that may be integrated, detachable, or detachable according to a particular exemplary embodiment. Such a digital computing device may also include a touch screen display. Many example embodiments of the UE 900 with a touch screen display are capable of receiving user input, such as input related to the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein or known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0118] In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, UE 900 may include an orientation sensor that may be used in various ways by the features and functions of UE 900. For example, UE 900 may use the output of the orientation sensor to determine when a user has changed the physical orientation of the touch screen display of UE 900. The indication signal from the orientation sensor may be used for any application executed on UE 900, so that the application may automatically change the orientation of the screen display (e.g., from portrait to landscape) when the indication signal indicates an approximately 90-degree change in the physical orientation of the device. In this way, the application is able to maintain the screen display in a user-readable manner regardless of the physical orientation of the device. In addition, the output of the orientation sensor may be used in conjunction with various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0119] The control interface 910 can take various forms depending on the particular implementation. For example, the control interface 910 can include an RS-232 interface, an RS-485 interface, a USB interface, an HDMI interface, a Bluetooth interface, an IEEE ("FireWire") interface, an I 2 C interface, PCMCIA interface, etc. In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 1260 may include an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet interface, such as described above. In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control interface 910 may include an analog interface circuit, which includes, for example, one or more digital-to-analog (D / A) converters and / or analog-to-digital (A / D) converters.

[0120] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the above list of features, interfaces, and radio frequency communication standards is merely exemplary and does not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Fig. 9 The UE 900 may include more functions as shown, including, for example, video and / or still image cameras, microphones, media players and / or recorders, etc. In addition, the one or more transceivers 904 may include circuits for communicating using additional radio frequency communication standards including Bluetooth, GPS and / or others. In addition, the one or more processors 902 may execute software code stored in the memory 906 to control such additional functions. For example, the directional speed and / or position estimate output from the GPS receiver may be used for any application executed on the UE 900, including various exemplary methods and / or computer-readable media according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0121] Fig.10 is a block diagram of an exemplary network node 1000 that may be configured according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, including by executing instructions on a computer-readable medium corresponding to any of the exemplary methods and / or processes described herein.

[0122] The network node 1000 includes one or more processors 1002, a radio network interface 1004, a memory 1006, a core network interface 1008 and other interfaces 1010. The network node 1000 may include, for example, a base station, an eNB, a gNB, an access node or a component thereof.

[0123] The one or more processors 1002 may include any type of processor or processing circuit, and may be configured to perform one of the methods or processes disclosed herein. The memory 1006 may store software codes, programs and / or instructions executed by the one or more processors 1002 to configure the network node 1000 to perform various operations, including the operations described herein. For example, the execution of such stored instructions may configure the network node 1000 to communicate with one or more other devices using protocols according to various embodiments of the present disclosure (including one or more methods and / or processes described above). In addition, the execution of such stored instructions may also configure and / or facilitate the network node 1000 to communicate with one or more other devices using other protocols or protocol layers (such as one or more of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A and / or NR or any other higher layer protocol used in combination with the radio network interface 1004 and the core network interface 1008). By way of example and not limitation, the core network interface 1008 includes an S1 interface, and the radio network interface 1004 may include a Uu interface, such as standardized by 3GPP. The memory 1006 may also store variables used in protocols, configuration, control, and other functions of the network node 1000. Thus, the memory 1006 may include non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory, hard disk, etc.), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic RAM), network-based (e.g., "cloud") storage, or a combination thereof.

[0124] The radio network interface 1004 may include a transmitter, a receiver, a signal processor, an ASIC, an antenna, a beamforming unit, and other circuits that enable the network node 1000 to communicate with other equipment (in some embodiments, such as multiple compatible user equipment (UE)). In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may include various protocols or protocol layers, such as PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and RRC layer protocols standardized by 3GPP for LTE, LTE-A, and / or 5G / NR. According to other embodiments of the present disclosure, the radio network interface 1004 may include a PHY layer based on OFDM, OFDMA, and / or SC-FDMA technology. In some embodiments, the functions of such a PHY layer may be provided collaboratively by the radio network interface 1004 and the one or more processors 1002.

[0125] The core network interface 1008 may include a transmitter, a receiver, and other circuits that enable the network node 1000 to communicate with other equipment in the core network (in some embodiments, such as circuit switching (CS) and / or packet switching core (PS) network). In some embodiments, the core network interface 1008 may include an S1 interface standardized by 3GPP. In some embodiments, the core network interface 1008 may include one or more interfaces to one or more SGWs, MMEs, SGSNs, GGSNs, and other physical devices, including functions known to those of ordinary skill in the art that exist in GERAN, UTRAN, E-UTRAN, and CDMA2000 core networks. In some embodiments, these one or more interfaces may be multiplexed together on a single physical interface. In some embodiments, the lower layer of the core network interface 1008 may include one or more of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Internet Protocol (IP) on Ethernet, SDH on optical fiber, T1 / E1 / PDH on copper wire, microwave radio, or other wired or wireless transmission technologies known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

[0126] Other interfaces 1010 may include transmitters, receivers, and other circuits that enable network node 1000 to communicate with external networks, computers, databases, etc., for operation, management, and maintenance of network node 1000 or other network equipment operably connected thereto.

[0127] In some embodiments, Figures 5 to 10 The electronic device, network, system, chip or component or part thereof or specific implementation in some other figures of this document may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods described herein or part thereof. Fig.11 A process 1100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. For example, the process 1100 may include, at block 1102, determining or causing determination of a beam pattern; at block 1104, determining or causing determination of a downlink (DL) reference signal based on the beam pattern; and, at block 1106, generating or causing generation of downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI includes the DL reference signal and triggering information that triggers the UE to transmit an uplink (UL) reference signal. In some embodiments, the DL reference signal may be an aperiodic (AP) CSI-RS, the DCI may be carried by a PDCCH, and the UL reference signal may be an AP SRS.

[0128] Fig.12Another process 1200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. For example, the process may include, at block 1202, decoding or causing decoding of downlink control information (DCI) based on a received PDCCH; at block 1204, determining or causing determination of a TX beam pattern based on the decoded DCI; at block 1206, determining or causing determination of a spatial domain TX filter based on the determined TX beam pattern; and, at block 1208, transmitting or causing transmission of a UL feedback signal to indicate feedback AP SRS.

[0129] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes and / or methods described in the following examples section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following embodiments. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments shown in the examples section below.

[0130] Examples

[0131] The following examples relate to additional embodiments.

[0132] Embodiment 1 may include a method of a UE, comprising: decoding downlink control information (DCI) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to generate decoded DCI; extracting non-periodic channel state information reference signal (APCSI-RS) information from the decoded DCI; updating the beam configuration of the reference signal based on the AP CSI-RS information; and generating an uplink (UL) feedback message indicating that the PDCCH has been successfully decoded by the UE.

[0133] Embodiment 2 may include the method described in Embodiment 1, further comprising extracting aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP SRS) information from the decoded DCI; and wherein the UL feedback message comprises a triggered APSRS based on the AP SRS information.

[0134] Embodiment 3 may include the method described in Embodiment 2, wherein the triggered AP SRS is spatially associated with the reference signal.

[0135] Embodiment 4 may include the method described in embodiment 1, wherein the UL feedback message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) signal.

[0136] Embodiment 5 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 1 to 4, wherein updating the beam configuration of the reference signal includes: determining a transmission (TX) beam pattern based on the extracted AP CSI-RS information; and determining a spatial domain TX filter based on the determined TX beam pattern.

[0137] Embodiment 6 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 1 to 5, wherein the beam configuration of the reference signal is updated based on an indication in the AP CSI-RS information that the reference signal is quasi-co-located (QCLed) with another downlink (DL) reference signal.

[0138] Embodiment 7 may include the method of any one of Embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the reference signal is one of a path loss (PL) reference signal and a spatial reference signal.

[0139] Embodiment 8 may include a method of a gNB, comprising: associating a reference signal with a beam pattern; preparing downlink control information (DCI) of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the DCI including AP CSI-RS information indicating the beam pattern associated with the reference signal; decoding an uplink (UL) feedback message indicating that the PDCCH has been successfully decoded at a user equipment (UE); and in response to decoding the UL feedback message, updating a receive (RX) beam of the gNB to correspond to the beam pattern associated with the reference signal.

[0140] Embodiment 9 may include the method described in embodiment 8, wherein the DCI further includes aperiodic sounding reference signal (AP SRS) information; and wherein the UL feedback message includes a triggered AP SRS based on the AP SRS information.

[0141] Embodiment 10 may include the method of embodiment 9, wherein the triggered AP SRS is spatially associated with the reference signal.

[0142] Embodiment 11 may include the method described in Embodiment 8, wherein the UL feedback message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) signal.

[0143] Embodiment 12 may include the method of any one of Embodiments 8 to 11, wherein the reference signal is one of a path loss (PL) reference signal and a spatial reference signal.

[0144] Embodiment 13 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 8 to 12, wherein the AP CSI-RS information indicates the beam pattern associated with the reference signal by indicating that the reference signal is quasi co-located (QCLed) with another downlink (DL) reference signal.

[0145] Embodiment 14 may include a method comprising determining or causing determination of a beam pattern; selecting or causing selection of a downlink (DL) reference signal associated with the beam pattern and triggering configuration of the DL reference signal by sending downlink control information (DCI) to a UE, wherein the DCI includes trigger information for the UE to transmit an uplink (UL) reference signal.

[0146] Embodiment 15 may include a method comprising determining or causing determination of a beam pattern; determining or causing determination of a downlink (DL) reference signal based on the beam pattern; and generating or causing generation of downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI includes the DL reference signal and trigger information for triggering a UE to transmit an uplink (UL) reference signal.

[0147] Embodiment 16 may include the method described in any one of Embodiment 14 and Embodiment 15 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the DL reference signal is an aperiodic (AP) CSI-RS, the DCI is carried by a PDCCH, and the UL reference signal is an AP SRS.

[0148] Embodiment 17 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 14 to 16 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising transmitting or causing the DCI to be transmitted to the UE.

[0149] Embodiment 18 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 14 to 16 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising monitoring or causing monitoring of reception of an SRS, wherein the SRS corresponds to the UL reference signal.

[0150] Embodiment 19 may include the method described in Embodiment 18 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the SRS corresponds to the AP SRS triggered by the DCI.

[0151] Embodiment 20 may include the method described in any one of Embodiment 18 and Embodiment 19 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: receiving or causing reception of the SRS; determining or causing determination that the received SRS corresponds to the APSRS; and determining or causing determination of the setting of the spatial domain RX filter based on the beam pattern.

[0152] Embodiment 21 may include the method of Embodiment 20 or some other embodiments herein, wherein determining the settings of the spatial domain RX filter is to update the settings of the spatial domain RX filter.

[0153] Embodiment 22 may include the method described in any one of Embodiment 18 and Embodiment 19 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: receiving or causing reception of the SRS; determining or causing determination that the received SRS does not correspond to the APSRS; and abandoning or causing abandonment of updating the setting of the spatial domain RX filter.

[0154] Embodiment 23 may include the method described in any one of Embodiment 14 or Embodiment 15 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: configuring or causing an AP CSI-RS to be configured for a target UL channel.

[0155] Embodiment 24 may include the method described in Embodiment 16 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising: configuring or causing AP CSI-RS to be configured for PUCCH.

[0156] Embodiment 25 may include the method described in embodiment 24 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuring is performed via RRC.

[0157] Embodiment 26 may include the method described in Embodiment 24 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the AP CSI-RS is a spatial RS or a path loss RS.

[0158] Embodiment 27 includes the method described in Embodiments 14 to 26 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the method is performed by a next generation NodeB (gNB) or a part thereof.

[0159] Embodiment 28 may include a method comprising: extracting or causing extraction of downlink control information (DCI) when decoding a corresponding PDCCH; determining or causing determination of a TX beam pattern based on beam information of a received triggered AP CSI-RS, updating or causing updating of a spatial domain TX filter based on the determined TX beam pattern; and transmitting or causing transmission of a UL feedback signal to a base station, wherein the UL feedback signal comprises an AP SRS.

[0160] Embodiment 29 may include a method comprising: decoding or causing decoding of downlink control information (DCI) based on a received PDCCH decoding; determining or causing determination of a TX beam pattern based on the decoded DCI; determining or causing determination of a spatial domain TX filter based on the determined TX beam pattern; and transmitting or causing transmission of a UL feedback signal to indicate a feedback AP SRS.

[0161] Embodiment 30 may include the method described in any one of Embodiment 28 and Embodiment 29 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the DCI includes or indicates a DL reference signal and a UL RS.

[0162] Embodiment 31 may include the method described in Embodiment 30 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the DL reference signal includes an AP CSI-RS, and the UL RS includes a triggered AP SRS.

[0163] Embodiment 32 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 27 to 31 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the UL feedback signal is the same as or corresponds to the triggered AP SRS included in the DCI.

[0164] Embodiment 33 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 28 to 31 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the feedback AP SRS is the same as or corresponds to the triggering AP SRS included in the DCI.

[0165] Embodiment 34 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 28 to 33 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the UL feedback signal is a PRACH signal whose preamble sequence is associated with the AP CSI-RS.

[0166] Embodiment 35 may include the method described in Embodiment 34 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the association between the AP CSI-RS and the PRACH may be pre-configured by the base station to the UE via a higher layer message or RRC.

[0167] Embodiment 36 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 28 to 31 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the UL feedback signal includes one or more feedback bits carried by uplink control information (UCI) in an upcoming PUCCH.

[0168] Embodiment 37 may include the method described in Embodiment 36 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the upcoming PUCCH is a most recent upcoming PUCCH.

[0169] Embodiment 38 may include the method described in any one of Embodiments 28 to 31 or some other embodiments herein, the method further comprising updating or causing updating of quasi-co-site (QCL) or spatial relationship information of a corresponding downlink / uplink signal associated with the AP CSI-RS in time slot n+K, wherein the UL feedback signal is transmitted in time slot n.

[0170] Embodiment 39 may include the method described in Embodiment 38 or some other embodiments herein, wherein, if there are more than one UP feedback signal or the UP signal occupies multiple time slots, time slot n indicates the time slot including the first symbol or the last symbol of the UL feedback signal.

[0171] Embodiment 40 may include the method described in Embodiment 38 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the value of K may be predefined or configured by higher layer signaling.

[0172] Embodiment 41 may include the method described in Embodiment 38 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the value of K is determined by the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth of the PDCCH and / or the subcarrier spacing of the bandwidth of the scheduled uplink signal.

[0173] Embodiment 42 includes the method described in any one of Embodiments 14 to 26 and / or some other embodiments herein, wherein the method is performed by a UE or a part thereof.

[0174] Embodiment 43 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0175] Embodiment 44 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.

[0176] Embodiment 45 may include a device comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0177] Embodiment 46 may include methods, techniques or processes or parts or components thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0178] Embodiment 47 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 one of the above embodiments.

[0179] Embodiment 48 may include a signal or a portion or component thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0180] Embodiment 49 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU) or message or a portion or component thereof as described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0181] Embodiment 50 may include a signal encoded with data or a portion or component thereof as described in any of the above embodiments or in connection therewith, or as otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0182] Embodiment 51 may include a signal or a portion or component thereof encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0183] Embodiment 52 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0184] Embodiment 53 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 described in or related to any one of the above embodiments, or a portion thereof.

[0185] Embodiment 54 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0186] Embodiment 55 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0187] Embodiment 56 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0188] Embodiment 57 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0189] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings or may be obtained from the practice of the various embodiments.

[0190] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general or special purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0191] It should be appreciated that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments may be combined into a single system, partially incorporated into other systems, separated into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be appreciated that unless otherwise stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. may be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0192] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0193] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for the sake of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways to implement both the processes and the apparatus described herein. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and the specification is not limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for a user to equip a UE, comprising: Decoding downlink control information DCI of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH to generate decoded DCI; Extracting aperiodic channel state information reference signal AP CSI-RS information from the decoded DCI; Extracting aperiodic sounding reference signal AP SRS information from the decoded DCI; Based on the AP CSI-RS information, updating the beam configuration of the reference signal; as well as An uplink (UL) feedback message is generated indicating that the PDCCH has been successfully decoded by the UE, wherein the UL feedback message includes a triggered AP SRS based on the AP SRS information, and wherein the triggered AP SRS is spatially associated with the reference signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The UL feedback message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) signal.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein: Updating the beam configuration of the reference signal includes: Determine a transmit TX beam pattern based on the extracted AP CSI-RS information; and Based on the determined TX beam pattern, a spatial domain TX filter is determined.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The beam configuration of the reference signal is updated based on an indication in the APCSI-RS information that the reference signal is quasi co-located (QCLed) with another downlink (DL) reference signal.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The reference signal is one of a path loss (PL) reference signal and a spatial reference signal.

6. A user equipment (UE) apparatus, comprising means for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing a user equipment (UE) to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 when the instructions are executed by one or more processors of the UE.

8. A method of a base station, comprising: associating a reference signal with the beam pattern; preparing downlink control information DCI of a physical downlink control channel PDCCH, the DCI comprising APCSI-RS information indicating the beam pattern associated with the reference signal, and wherein the DCI further comprises aperiodic sounding reference signal APSRS information; decoding an uplink (UL) feedback message indicating that the PDCCH has been successfully decoded at a user equipment (UE), wherein the UL feedback message includes a triggered AP SRS based on the AP SRS information, and wherein the triggered AP SRS is spatially associated with the reference signal; as well as In response to decoding the UL feedback message, a receive (RX) beam of the base station is updated to correspond to the beam pattern associated with the reference signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The UL feedback message includes a physical random access channel (PRACH) signal.

10. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 9, wherein: The reference signal is one of a path loss (PL) reference signal and a spatial reference signal.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein: The AP CSI-RS information indicates the beam pattern associated with the reference signal by indicating that the reference signal is quasi co-located (QCLed) with another downlink (DL) reference signal.

12. An apparatus of a base station, comprising means for executing the method according to any one of claims 8 to 11.

13. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions for causing a base station to perform a method according to any one of claims 8 to 11 when the instructions are executed by one or more processors of the base station.

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