Coordinated cellular coverage for mobile base stations

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to coordinated cellular coverage for mobile base stations. The application relates to apparatus and components including apparatuses, systems and methods for providing coordinated cellular coverage by a mobile base station. The one or more computer readable media have instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the processor circuit to receive first information associated with a route of a target satellite; receiving second information associated with switching provision of the serving cell at the geographic location from the source satellite to the target satellite; and based on the first information and the second information, causing the target satellite to transmit a synchronization signal in the serving cell before the source satellite ends providing the serving cell.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with an application date of August 13, 2020, which entered the Chinese national stage on January 31, 2023, with Chinese national application number 202080104446.2, and invention name “Coordinated cellular coverage of mobile base stations”. Background Art

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network relies on a large number of geographically distributed base stations to provide cellular coverage over an extended area. User equipment (UE) can travel between areas covered by different base stations. When the UE moves between cells, the source base station can switch the communication to the target base station to provide continuous and uninterrupted service to the UE. The 3GPP working group is studying the technology of mobile base stations to enable the operation of the new air interface (NR) protocol in various access networks (including non-terrestrial access networks). For example, discussions are being conducted in at least the Radio Access Network 2 (RAN2) working group. Further consideration of switching and coordinated cellular coverage is needed in such access networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] Figure 1 A network environment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0004] Figure 2 A cell transfer procedure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0005] Figure 3 A cell transfer procedure with overlapping coverage is shown according to some embodiments.

[0006] Figure 4 A network environment according to some embodiments is shown.

[0007] Figure 5 A mapping overlay is shown that facilitates network resource planning according to some embodiments.

[0008] Figure 6 A network environment with a mobile centralized unit is shown according to some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 7 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0010] Figure 8 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0011] Fig. 9 An operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0012] Fig.10Beamforming circuitry according to some embodiments is shown.

[0013] Fig.11 An apparatus according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] 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).

[0015] The following is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0016] As used herein, the term "circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a hardware component such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) or a memory (shared, dedicated, or group) configured to provide the described functions, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable device (FPD) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a complex PLD (CPLD), a high capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable system on chip (SoC)), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In some embodiments, the circuit may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the described functions. The term "circuit" may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements and a program code for performing the functions of the program code (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system). In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a specific type of circuit.

[0017] As used herein, the term "processor circuit" refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or recording, storing, or transmitting digital data. The term "processor circuit" may refer to an application processor, a baseband processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit, a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or otherwise operating computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes).

[0018] As used herein, the term "interface circuit" refers to a circuit that enables, is a part of, or includes information exchange between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuit" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, etc.

[0019] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device that has radio communication capabilities and can describe a remote user of network resources in a communication network. In addition, the terms "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous and may be referred to as a client, mobile phone, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. In addition, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0020] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Additionally, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to one another. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computer devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to one another and configured to share computing resources or networked resources.

[0021] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component within a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component within a specific device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, a memory space, a processor / CPU time, a processor / CPU usage, a processor and accelerator load, a hardware time or usage, a power supply, an input / output operation, a port or a network socket, a channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, a network, a database and an application, a unit of work, etc. "Hardware resources" may refer to computing, storage or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. "Virtualized resources" may refer to computing, storage or network resources provided by a virtualized infrastructure to an application, a device, a system, etc. The term "network resources" or "communication resources" may refer to resources that a computer device / system can access via a communication network. The term "system resources" may refer to any kind of shared entity that provides a service, and may include computing resources or network resources. System resources may be considered as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services that can be accessed through a server, wherein such system resources reside on a single host or multiple hosts and can be clearly identified.

[0022] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium for transmitting data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent to "communication channel", "data communication channel", "transmission channel", "data transmission channel", "access channel", "data access channel", "link", "data link", "carrier", "radio frequency carrier" or any other similar term representing a path or medium through which data is transmitted. In addition, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection made between two devices for transmitting and receiving information.

[0023] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiate," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. "Instance" also refers to a specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0024] The term "connected" may mean that two or more elements at a common communication protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other through a communication channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0025] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to physical or virtualized equipment or infrastructure for providing wired or wireless communication network services. The term "network element" may be considered synonymous with or referred to as a networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, virtualized network function, etc.

[0026] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains the contents. An information element may include one or more additional information elements.

[0027] A typical 3GPP network is constructed under the following assumption: base stations are deployed in a fixed manner to provide cellular coverage at fixed locations. Generally speaking, the mobility and mobility management procedures of UEs are based on the fixed cell deployment assumption. In some deployments with mobile base stations, this assumption may still hold, and the network may handle this assumption as the UE will become a mobile entity. If a mobile base station is to provide a radio access cell, the UE will detect a reduction in signal quality as the mobile base station moves away from the UE. The UE will then regard this as a UE mobility operation and reselect a new cell that has been moved to the location. To this end, the UE will need to read the synchronization / reference signals and system information provided by the new cell, reconfigure itself based on the new cell to read the paging channel, and restart the service / neighboring cell measurement as needed. In some cases, if the new cell is from a different registration area, the UE may need to trigger a tracking area update. This may result in a large number of UEs trying to update the cell at the same time, causing unnecessary signaling overload and large delays. For UEs in radio resource control (RRC) connection mode, switching may be required, which may involve signaling with both the base station leaving and the base station arriving. This can also be a source of signaling delays, especially when the mobile base station is at a large distance from the UE.

[0028] To address these challenges associated with providing radio access cells by mobile stations, various embodiments describe techniques for providing fixed radio access cells using mobile base stations.

[0029] Figure 1 A network environment 100 is shown according to some embodiments. The network environment 100 may include a UE 104, a UE 106, a mobile base station (BS) 108, and a mobile BS 112.

[0030] The mobile BS 108 / 112 may be a base station configured to provide a radio access cell (or "serving cell") for a geographic location near the mobile BS. The mobile BS 108 / 112 may be a terrestrial or non-terrestrial base station that is capable of moving relative to a geographic location (typically on a fixed or predetermined route). For example, the mobile BS 108 / 112 may be provided by a vehicle, a train, an unmanned aerial vehicle, an airplane, a satellite of various altitude classifications (e.g., low earth orbit, medium earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit, or high earth orbit), etc.

[0031] UE 104 / 106 is depicted as a mobile phone. However, UE 104 / 106 may be any type of user equipment, such as a computer, a tablet computer, an industrial wireless sensor, a video surveillance / monitoring device, a wearable device, a vehicle, a vehicle equipped with wireless connectivity, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.

[0032] The mobile BS 108 / 112 may be configured to provide a fixed service cell at a set geographic location. For example, the mobile BS 108 may initially provide a service cell 110 for a geographic location 122 that covers both the UE 104 / 106. When the mobile BS 108 moves away from the geographic location 122, the mobile BS 112 moves toward the geographic location 122, and the mobile BS 112 may take over the provisioning of the same service cell 110. In order to provide the same service cell 110, the mobile BS 112 may transmit appropriate system information (SI) and broadcast information of the cell, and may take over the communication to / from the UE 104 / 106. The SI / broadcast information may include, for example: synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks (SSBs), which are transmitted to provide, for example, a physical cell identity and a master information block (MIB); and other system information blocks (SIBs), which are transmitted in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In this way, the arriving base station can seamlessly take over the identity and responsibilities of the departing base station. In some embodiments, the transfer of the deployment of the serving cell 110 from the mobile BS 108 to the mobile BS 112 may be transparent to the UE 104 / 106. The UE 104 / 106 may view the cell coverage as fixed and may not be aware that it is now being provided by a different mobile BS. Since this transfer is transparent to the UE 104 / 106, they may not incur any signaling delays in a traditional handover due to the required UE communication with the source / target base station.

[0033] The serving cell 110 may provide an air interface compatible with a 3GPP New Radio (NR) access technology or a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) access technology to the UE 104 / 106. The mobile BS 108 / 112 may then communicate with a core network 114, which may be, for example, a 3GPP fifth generation (5G) core network (5GC). The mobile BS 108 / 112 may be referred to as a radio access node, an ng-eNB (which provides an LTE access network and is connected to a 5GC), a gNB (which provides an NR access network and is connected to a 5GC), or an access node utilizing a sixth generation (6G) and higher technology.

[0034] The mobile BS 108 / 112 may communicate with the UE 104 / 106 via a Uu interface, communicate with each other via an Xn interface, and communicate with the core network 114 via a next generation (NG) interface. In some embodiments, the mobile BS 108 / 112 may be coupled to an access and mobility management function (AMF) 116 of the core network 114 using an NG control (NG-C) interface, and coupled to a user plane function (UPF) 118 of the core network 114 using an NG user (NG-U) interface.

[0035] The NG-C interface may use the Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to transfer signaling messages between the mobile BS 108 / 112 and the AMF 116, which may be a control plane function that provides registration management services, connection management services, reachability management services, and mobility management services. Registration management may allow the UE to register and deregister with the 5G system. Upon registration, a UE context may be created within the core network 114. The UE context may be a set of parameters that identify and characterize the UE. The UE context may include UE identity information, UE capability information, access and mobility information, or protocol data unit (PDU) session information. Connection management may be used to establish and release a control plane signaling connection between the UE and the AMF 116. Establishing a control plane signaling connection moves the UE from connection management (CM) idle to CM connection. When a mobile terminated connection is desired, reachability management may allow the UE to be found and paged. Mobility management may be used to maintain location information of the UE within the network.

[0036] In some embodiments, the AMF 116 may include a base station tracking function (BSTF) 120. The BSTF 120 may be programmed with routing information for each mobile base station including, for example, the mobile BS 108 / 112. The routing information may enable the BSTF 120 to determine the location of the mobile BS 108 / 112 at a particular time. This information may be used to provide the mobile BS 108 / 112 with relevant information about neighboring base stations, upcoming geographic locations, and relevant cell information, etc. In some embodiments, this may reduce the amount of information required to be exchanged directly between the mobile BSs 108 / 112 over the Xn interface when the mobile BSs 108 / 112 are transferring cell deployment responsibilities.

[0037] The UPF 118 may enable routing and forwarding of user plane packets between the mobile BS 108 / 112 and the external network. The mobile BS 108 / 112 may transmit uplink packets to the UPF 118 via a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol-user plane (GTP-U) tunnel. The UPF 118 may remove the packet header and forward the packet to the external data network. The UPF 118 may map the downlink packets arriving from the external data network to a specific quality of service flow belonging to a specific PDU session before forwarding to the mobile BS 108 / 112.

[0038] The Xn interface between mobile BS108 and mobile BS112 may include a control plane interface (Xn-C) for transferring signaling messages between adjacent base stations and a user plane interface (Xn-U) for transferring data between adjacent base stations. Mobile BS108 / 112 may use the Xn interface for basic mobility procedures, dual connection procedures, and global procedures. Basic mobility procedures include, but are not limited to, UE handover preparation and control, radio access network paging, receiving UE context, and sequence number (SN) state transfer. The dual connection procedure involves adding, removing, and managing master nodes and auxiliary nodes for dual connection operations. Global procedures include, but are not limited to, Xn setup and removal, cell activation, and handover reporting.

[0039] In typical operation, the Xn interface may be established through an automatic neighbor relation procedure (ANR), in which the UE discovers the identity of the neighboring cells of the serving cell. The serving cell may then send a query to the AMF for the appropriate IP address of the neighboring base station. The AMF will then query the neighboring node to obtain the IP address, which will then be transmitted back to the source base station. However, in some embodiments described herein, the UE may not be aware of two different base stations, and UE procedures that rely on ANR may not be possible. Therefore, the Xn interface may be established in other ways. For example, in some embodiments, the BSTF 120 may provide information (such as IP addresses) to the mobile BS 108 and the mobile BS 112 to facilitate the establishment of the Xn interface.

[0040] In order to take over the allocation of cell 110, mobile BS 112 may need various state information relative to the state of cell 110 and the UE currently being served by cell 110. In some embodiments, the operating state or mode of UE 104 / 106 may affect the type of information that needs to be acquired by mobile BS 112. For example, consider that UE 104 is in RRC connected mode at the time of transfer, while UE 106 is in RRC idle mode. The connected UE 104 may be involved in active communication with mobile BS 108 when the cell allocation responsibility is transferred to mobile BS 112. Therefore, mobile BS 108 may provide UE-level information to mobile BS 112 to allow mobile BS 112 to take over the communication. UE-level information may include state information, such as but not limited to the allocated uplink and downlink resources, the state of ongoing communications (e.g., hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, transmit / receive buffer, the state of paging / random access / mobility procedures, etc.), etc.

[0041] In some embodiments, concepts related to fixed deployment of serving cells may be abstracted to other levels. For example, in some embodiments, mobile BS 108 / 110 may provide fixed deployment configuration of registration / tracking / location areas to facilitate reachability / mobility management procedures of AMF 116.

[0042] Figure 2 A cell transfer procedure 200 according to some embodiments is shown. In this embodiment, mobile BS 108 is transitioning to not providing service cell 110 and may be referred to as source mobile BS 108; mobile BS 112 is transitioning to providing service cell 110 and may be referred to as target mobile BS 112; UE 104 is in RRC connected mode and may be referred to as connected UE 104; and UE 106 is in RRC idle mode and may be referred to as idle UE 106.

[0043] At 204, a serving cell 110 may be provided by a source mobile BS 108. Providing a serving cell 110 may include transmitting an SSB and other information that will allow a UE to detect and associate with the serving cell 110. Providing a serving cell 110 may also include participating in active communications with a connected UE, such as a connected UE 104. Active communications may include transmitting downlink data and system information on a PDSCH, transmitting control information on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), receiving uplink data on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and receiving uplink control information on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). Participating in active communications may also include transmitting a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) to the connected UE 104 at 208. The CSI-RS may be a multi-purpose downlink transmission that is used to facilitate channel state information reporting, beam management, connected mode mobility, radio link failure detection, beam failure detection and recovery, and fine tuning of time and frequency synchronization.

[0044] At 212, the source mobile BS 108 may detect a transfer event and decide to transfer cell deployment responsibilities. The transfer event may be based on the source mobile BS 108 leaving the vicinity of the geographic location 122. In some embodiments, the direction and speed of travel of the source mobile BS 108 may be used to determine the proximity to the geographic location 122. In other embodiments, the positioning circuit (e.g., Fig.11 The positioning circuit 1118 of the source mobile BS 108 may be used to determine the location of the source mobile BS 108, which may then be compared to the geographic location 122. When the source mobile BS 108 determines that its distance from the geographic location 122 is above a predetermined threshold distance, the source mobile BS 108 may make a transfer decision 212. In other embodiments, the transfer event 212 may be based on signaling from the core network (e.g., BSTF 120) or other control nodes.

[0045] At 216, source mobile BS 108 may transmit a transfer request over the Xn interface to target mobile BS 112. The transfer request may include cell switching information that provides target mobile BS 112 with sufficient information to take over active communications as well as transmission of SSBs and other information that allows the UE to detect and associate with serving cell 110.

[0046] The cell handover information may include cell-level information that allows the target mobile BS to provide SI / broadcast information. The cell-level information may include, for example, the identity of the physical cell, the identity of the resources used for cell-level transmission, or any other cell-level information that is not specifically associated with a specific UE. In some embodiments, some or all of the cell-level information may be provided to the target mobile BS 112 in another manner. For example, the target mobile BS 112 may be pre-configured with cell-level information so that it knows which identities it will assume at a specific location at a specific time. Since the cell-level information may not be expected to change frequently, the cell-level information may be pre-programmed into each mobile BS to be used based on the location / time of the mobile BS near the geographic location 122.

[0047] In some implementations, some or all of the cell level information may be provided from BSTF 120 to target mobile BS 112. This information may be provided in a static manner, a semi-static manner, a periodic manner, or an event driven (eg, request driven) manner.

[0048] The cell handover information may also include UE-level information for each connected UE. The UE-level information may provide the target mobile BS 112 with information about ongoing communication sessions to be relocated during the handover. The UE-level information may include configuration information that the target mobile BS 112 may use to determine time / frequency resources for the UE to transmit / receive control information / data. The UE-level information may also include any other information specific to a particular UE.

[0049] In some embodiments, the UE-level information may include a globally unique AMF identity to provide the target mobile BS 112 with the identity of the AMF being used to serve the connected UE 104. The UE-level information may also include a UE context for the connected UE 104. The UE context may include, for example: a NG-C UE-associated signaling reference used to allow the target mobile BS 112 to resolve the connection when sending a path switch request to the AMF 116 at 228; a signaling transport network layer (TNL) association address located on the source NG-C side, which is used to provide an IP address for the signaling connection with the AMF 116; UE security capabilities; access layer security information; an index of a radio access technology / frequency selection priority; a UE aggregate maximum bit rate; a PDU session resource list to be established to provide an IP address and a Transmission Gap Period-User (TGP-U) Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) for uplink data transmission towards the UPF 118, and specify a PDU session and an associated QoS flow set; an RRC context with a handover preparation information message; location reporting information; or a mobility restriction list.

[0050] In some embodiments, the UE-level information may also include an SN status transfer message for providing information about the sequence number status at the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer to the target mobile BS 112. The SN status transfer message may include an uplink count value for specifying the sequence number of the first missing uplink service data unit (SDU), a downlink count value for specifying the next sequence number to be allocated to the downlink SDU, and a reception status of the uplink PDCP SDU indicating which uplink PDCP SDUs are received.

[0051] In some embodiments, UE-level information may also include downlink data received by the source mobile BS 108 but to be transmitted by the target mobile BS 112 to the connected UEs 104 when providing a cell.

[0052] In some embodiments, the UE-level information may not include the context of an idle UE, such as the idle UE 106. Given that the idle UE 104 is not in active communication with the source mobile BS 108 at the time of the transfer, the source mobile BS 108 may not have its context information or even be aware that the idle UE 106 is camped in the geographic location 122. However, in some embodiments, the core network 114 may have information about the general tracking area of ​​the idle UE 106 to facilitate paging in the event that a network-initiated connection is desired. In the event that the idle UE 106 may wish to initiate a connection, it may detect the system information in the SSB transmitted by the target mobile BS 112, participate in a random access procedure, and perform an RRC setup operation to transition from an RRC idle mode to an RRC connected mode.

[0053] After the target mobile BS 112 receives the cell handover information, it may provide a cell at 220. Providing a cell at 220 may be similar to that described above with respect to providing a cell at 204, including, for example, transmission of a CSI-RS for a connected UE 104 at 224.

[0054] In some embodiments, the target mobile BS 112 may transmit a path switch request 228 to the AMF 116 to request the UPF 118 to modify the bearer path so that the downlink data is directed to the mobile BS 112 instead of the mobile BS 108. The AMF 116 may transmit the content of the path switch request to the session management function (SMF) responsible for managing the UPF 118. The SMF may send a modify bearer request to the UPF 118, which responds with a modify bearer response, the content of which is relayed to the AMF 110. The AMF 110 may then provide a path switch request confirmation message to the target mobile BS 112 to confirm that the connection has been moved to the target mobile BS 112. In some embodiments, the target mobile BS 112 may transmit a context release message 236 to the source mobile BS 108 to trigger the source mobile BS 108 to release its resources previously used for the connection.

[0055] In some embodiments, in addition to accommodating the cell identity from the perspective of the access network, the target mobile BS 112 may also take over the cell identity from the perspective of the core network. For example, the target mobile BS 112 may assume an identity (e.g., an IP address) associated with the serving cell 110 / geolocation 120 and used for the purpose of communicating with the core network (including AMF 116 and UPF 118). In this case, the transfer from mobile BS 108 to mobile BS 112 may be at least partially transparent to the core network 114, and a path switch request / confirmation may not be required.

[0056] In some embodiments, AMF 116 may know in advance the schedule of when different mobile BSs are to provide specific service cells. Therefore, the signaling requesting path update between mobile BS 108 / 112 and core network 114 may be reduced or eliminated.

[0057] In some embodiments, after the target mobile BS 112 takes over the cell 110, a beam adjustment or refinement procedure may be desired. For example, the transmit / receive beam used to communicate with the source mobile BS 108 may not necessarily be the most desired for communicating with the target mobile BS 112. Therefore, the connected UE 104 can enter a beam refinement / adjustment period using CSI-RS 224 or other beam management signals transmitted by the target mobile BS 112. When the mobile BS 108 / 112 is at a considerable distance from the connected UE 104, the effect of the change in communication direction is negligible. For example, when the mobile BS 108 / 112 is implemented in a satellite device, the azimuth from the surface of the earth to the mobile BS 108 / 112 can be substantially the same.

[0058] Figure 3 A cell transfer procedure 300 is shown according to some embodiments. The operations and messages of the cell transfer procedure 300 may be similar to those described above with respect to Figure 2 Similar named operations and messages are described for the cell transfer procedure 200. However, compared to the cell transfer procedure 200, the cell transfer procedure 300 may include overlapping deployment of serving cells 110 by the source mobile BS 108 and the target mobile BS 112 over a period of time.

[0059] Specifically, after the source mobile BS 108 transmits the cell switching information to the target mobile BS 112 at 316, the source mobile BS 108 may continue to provide the serving cell 110, including, for example, transmitting the CSI-RS at 308. At this point, the serving cell 110 may also be provided by the target mobile BS 112.

[0060] The overlapping deployment of the serving cell 110 by both the source mobile BS 108 and the target mobile BS 112 can be similar to single frequency network operation or joint transmission operation of multiple transmit-receive points (TRPs). In either case, similar to the overlapping deployment of the serving cell 100, multiple base stations / TRPs use the same resources to transmit the same signal.

[0061] The amount of time for overlapping deployments of serving cells 112 may vary based on the circumstances of a particular implementation. For example, in some implementations, the amount of time may be based on the speed of travel of the mobile BSs 108 / 112, the distance between the mobile BSs 108 / 112, the cell density, etc.

[0062] Figure 4A network environment 400 according to some embodiments is shown. Similar to what is described above with respect to network environment 100, network environment 400 may include mobile BS 108 and mobile BS 112. In this embodiment, each of mobile BSs 108 / 112 may utilize beamforming technology to provide multiple service cells at a given time. For example, mobile BS 108 may utilize its first beam to provide a first service cell 404 at a first geographic location 408 where UE 412 is located. At the same time, mobile BS 108 may also utilize its second beam to provide a second service cell 416 at a second geographic location 420 where UE 424 is present. Mobile BS 112 may also utilize its first beam to provide a second service cell 416 at the second geographic location 420 simultaneously with mobile BS 108. Therefore, service cells 416 may be provided by two mobile BSs 108 / 112 in an overlapping manner, such as described above with respect to FIG. Figure 3 The mobile BS 112 may also utilize its second beam to provide a third serving cell 428 at a third geographic location 432 where the UE 436 is located.

[0063] When the mobile BS 108 stops providing the cell 416 at the geographic location 420, it may use its second beam to provide a serving cell in the direction in which the mobile BS 108 is traveling.

[0064] In this way, overlapping serving cell allocation can provide some flexibility in the transition timing of switching serving cell allocation from one mobile BS to the next mobile BS. In addition, overlapping coverage can be provided when the mobile BS 108 / 112 is farthest away from the geographical area. Therefore, overlapping coverage can result in an effective improvement in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to prevent degradation of the signal experienced by the UE.

[0065] Figure 5A mapping overlay 500 is shown that facilitates network resource planning according to some embodiments. As discussed above, the path and speed of a mobile base station 108 / 112 may be known in advance. Therefore, it may be determined which cells are in the path of a particular mobile base station. As shown in the mapping overlay 500, both mobile BS 108 and mobile BS 112 may follow a similar path through cells 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. In some embodiments, the trajectory of a mobile base station may rely on pre-provisioning of data to facilitate the serving cell switching discussed herein. For example, in this embodiment, two mobile BSs 108 / 112 may be pre-provisioned with cell-level information for cells 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This may reduce or eliminate the amount of cell-level switching information transmitted between mobile BSs 108 / 112 via an Xn interface when a particular cell is switched. In some embodiments, pre-provisioning of cell-level data may be accomplished by BSTF 120. Additionally / alternatively, some or all of the cell level data may be pre-configured in the memory / storage of the mobile BS 108 / 112, in which case configuration signaling may be reduced or eliminated.

[0066] In some embodiments, the route taken by the mobile base station can be used to facilitate other network operations. For example, one or more components of the network environment can use the routing information for positioning, radio link management, carrier aggregation coverage, or multi-user identity module operations. For example, if the mobile base station or the UE (provided with relevant information) determines that both the mobile base station and the UE are traveling in a common direction, it may be advantageous for the mobile base station to retain the UE state information in view of the high probability that the UE will travel to a subsequent serving cell provided by the mobile BS. Although the embodiments of the present disclosure describe the mobility / interchangeability of the mobile base station as being transparent to the UE, at least some knowledge of this information may be provided to the UE in some embodiments.

[0067] Figure 6 A network environment 600 is shown according to some embodiments. The network environment 600 may rely on a centralized unit (CU)-distributed unit (DU) split base station architecture. Specifically, the network environment 600 may include a mobile BS CU 604 / 608 and a BSDU 612.

[0068] The mobile BS CU 604 / 608 may provide upper layers of the communication protocol stack, including, for example, an RRC layer, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, and a PDCP layer. The RRC layer may provide connection establishment and release functions, broadcast of system information, radio bearer establishment, reconfiguration and release, mobility, and paging functions. The SDAP layer may map a quality of service (QoS) flow to a data radio bearer and mark a QoS flow identifier in both a downlink packet and an uplink packet. The PDCP layer may control the transfer, header compression, encryption, and integrity protection of user / control plane data.

[0069] BSDU 612 may provide the lower levels of the communication protocol stack, including, for example, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, and a physical (PHY) layer. The RLC layer may transfer upper layer protocol data units in acknowledged mode, unacknowledged mode, or transparent mode. The RLC layer may manage RLC service data units and protocol data units separately for each of these modes to provide error detection and recovery. The MAC layer may generate transport blocks from logical channel data received from the RLC layer, perform error correction through HARQ, and perform various control functions related to activation / deactivation of secondary cells, triggering semi-persistent scheduling transmissions, reporting buffer status and power headroom, etc. The PHY layer provides physical layer processing and transmission and reception across the air interface. The PHY layer may add cyclic redundancy check bits to the transport blocks at the transmitter to allow error detection at the receiver. The PHY layer may also perform channel coding, interleaving, and modulation to efficiently transmit / receive information over the air interface.

[0070] The BSDU 612 may provide a Uu air interface for the serving cell 610 for the UE 104 / 106 at the geographic location 622. The BSDU 612 may be a fixed or mobile device. The mobile BS CU 604 / 608 may be connected to the BSDU 612 via an F1 interface, which may be used to transfer both control plane signaling and user plane data. The mobile BS CU 604 / 608 may be coupled to each other via an Xn interface and to the core network 114 via an Ng interface, as described above with respect to FIG. Figure 1 as described.

[0071] The mobile BS CU 604 may initially couple with the BSDU 612 to provide higher layer functions for the serving cell 610. As the mobile BS CU 604 travels away from the BSDU 612 (and the geographic location 622), it may transfer higher layer cell deployment responsibilities to the mobile BS CU 608. The mobile BS CU 604 may provide cell switching information to the mobile BS CU 608 to facilitate the transfer of higher layer cell deployment responsibilities. In some implementations, it may be desirable to transfer the above description with respect to the cell deployment information. Figure 2 A subset of the information provided is provided to the mobile BS CU 608. For example, the BSDU 612 may include information required to provide SI / broadcast information to facilitate access and discovery of the serving cell 610, and may also include low-level UE state information (e.g., with respect to HARQ processes). Therefore, this information may not need to be provided to the upcoming mobile BS CU 608. Instead, the cell switching information transmitted over the Xn interface may focus on higher-level functions applicable to the connected UE.

[0072] The BSDU 612 may have more hardware resources than a typical UE in terms of processing power, size and number of antenna arrays, etc. Therefore, in some embodiments, the signal between the BSDU 612 and the mobile BS CU 604 / 608 may be able to span a greater distance. This may facilitate deployments that use fewer mobile units to provide the same amount of coverage.

[0073] Figure 7 An operation flow / algorithm structure 700 according to some embodiments may be included. The operation flow / algorithm structure 700 may be performed or implemented by a base station such as, for example, a mobile BS 108 / 112, a mobile BS CU 604 / 608, or the device 1100 or a component thereof, such as the baseband processor 1104A.

[0074] Operational flow / algorithm structure 700 may include, at 704, determining cell switching information related to a geographic area. The cell switching information may be information related to providing a service cell for a geographic area. The cell switching information may include both cell-level information and UE-level information. In some embodiments, a first portion of the cell switching information may be received from a core network device (e.g., AMF 116 or BSTF 120). The first portion may include cell-level information or other information that is relatively stable and can be provided in advance. In some embodiments, a second portion of the cell switching information may be received from another mobile BS via an Xn interface. For example, the second portion may be provided by a source mobile BS that is transitioning out of the responsibility of providing a service cell. The second portion may include UE-level information or other information that is relatively dynamic and conveys the current state of the serving cell when the serving cell is switched.

[0075] The operation flow / algorithm structure 700 may also include, at 708, determining that the mobile base station is close to the geographic location for a certain period of time. For different embodiments, the proximity to the geographic location may be defined differently. Generally speaking, the proximity may be defined as the distance at which the mobile BS can provide sufficient signaling over an appropriate air interface (e.g., Uu or F1 interface).

[0076] In some embodiments, a mobile base station may determine whether it is close to a geographic location based on location data corresponding to both the geographic location and the base station itself. In some embodiments, a mobile base station may determine its location using routing information that may be pre-programmed into the mobile base station or provided by a network element such as, for example, AMF 116 or BSTF 120. Additionally / alternatively, a mobile base station may determine its location by utilizing, for example, Fig.11 The positioning circuit 1118 is used to determine its position.

[0077] In some embodiments (such as with respect to Figure 6In the embodiments described above, the mobile BS may rely on signaling with a fixed device (e.g., BSDU 612) at a geographic location to determine proximity. For example, the mobile BS may determine whether it is close to the geographic location based on measurements of signals transmitted to or received from the fixed device. For example, if the measurements provide a signal metric that exceeds a predetermined threshold, the mobile BS may determine that it is close to the geographic location; however, if the measurements provide a signal metric that is below the predetermined threshold, the mobile BS may determine that it is far from the geographic location.

[0078] In some embodiments, the mobile base station may determine that it is close to a geographic location for a certain period of time based on the scheduling information. For example, it may be predetermined that the mobile base station will be located near a specific geographic location for a certain period of time. This information may be pre-programmed at the mobile base station, or provided initially or as an update from a network element such as, for example, AMF 116 or BSTF 120.

[0079] The operational flow / algorithm structure 700 may also include providing a serving cell at the geographic location during a certain period of time at 712. Upon receiving the desired cell handover information, the mobile base station may assume the responsibility of providing the serving cell. This may include transmitting SI / broadcast information to convey the existence and identity of the serving cell and transmitting / receiving downlink / uplink communications with connected UEs.

[0080] Figure 8 An operation flow / algorithm structure 800 according to some embodiments may be included. The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may be performed or implemented by a base station such as, for example, a mobile BS 108 / 112, a mobile BS CU 604 / 608, or the device 1100 or a component thereof, such as the baseband processor 1104A.

[0081] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may include providing a serving cell at a geographic location using one or more transmit / receive beams, at 804. Providing a serving cell may be similar to that described above with respect to operation 712 of diagram 700 and elsewhere.

[0082] In some embodiments, a mobile base station can provide multiple serving cells simultaneously using various transmit / receive beams. These serving cells can be aligned with the direction of travel of the mobile base station. For example, one serving cell is located in front of the mobile base station and one serving cell is located behind the mobile base station.

[0083] The operational flow / algorithm structure 800 may also include, at 808, detecting a transfer event. In some embodiments, the transfer event may be a determination that the distance from the mobile BS to the geographic location exceeds a predetermined threshold. For example, the mobile BS is no longer close to the geographic location. This may be similar to the above with respect to Figure 7The transfer event may be performed as described in operation 708 of and elsewhere. In other embodiments, the transfer event may be a determination that the mobile BS cannot provide sufficient signaling or coverage for the serving cell. In still other embodiments, the transfer event may be based on scheduling information. For example, the mobile base station is to provide the serving cell within a predetermined time period, and the expiration of the predetermined time period may constitute a signaling event.

[0084] The operation flow / algorithm structure 800 may also include: transmitting cell switching information to the target mobile base station to transfer the allocation of the serving cell to the target mobile base station at 812. The cell switching information may be transmitted to the target mobile base station via an Xn interface.

[0085] In some embodiments, the identification of the target mobile station may be provided to the mobile base station from a network element such as, for example, AMF 116 or BSTF 120. Routes to all mobile base stations may be predefined, discoverable, or otherwise known to entities in the core network. Thus, the core network may provide the mobile base station with information about which other mobile base station is to take over service for a particular serving cell. In other embodiments, the mobile base station may participate in a peer discovery process to identify neighboring mobile base stations.

[0086] Fig. 9 An operational flow / algorithm structure 900 according to some embodiments may be included. The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may be performed or implemented by a network element such as, for example, AMF 116, BSTF 120, or device 1100 or a component thereof, such as baseband processor 1104A.

[0087] The operational flow / algorithm structure 900 may include, at 904, identifying cell switching information for a serving cell associated with a geographic area. The device may include this information in a relational database that associates the geographic area with the serving cell according to a coordinated network plan. This association may be relatively static, but may be periodically updated during network optimization operations.

[0088] The operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may also include: at 908, determining that the mobile base station is located near the geographic area. The device may include routing information for each mobile base station. The device may use the routing information to overlay a map identifying various service cells / geographic locations. In this way, the device may determine which service cells are to be provided by a particular mobile base station.

[0089] The operation flow / algorithm structure 900 may also include: at 912, transmitting cell switching information to the mobile base station. The cell switching information may correspond to a serving cell or multiple serving cells to be provided by the mobile base station in the future. In addition, the cell switching information may include cell-level information and optionally UE-level information.

[0090] Fig.10A beamforming circuit 1000 is shown according to some embodiments. The beamforming circuit 1000 may include a first antenna panel (i.e., panel 1 1004) and a second antenna panel (i.e., panel 2 1008). Each antenna panel may include multiple antenna elements. Other embodiments may include other numbers of antenna panels.

[0091] The digital beam forming (BF) component 1028 may be derived from, for example, a baseband processor such as, for example Fig.11 The baseband processor 1104A of the embodiment of the present invention receives the input baseband (BB) signal. The digital BF component 1028 can rely on complex weights to precode the BB signal and provide a beamformed BB signal to the parallel radio frequency (RF) chain 1020 / 1024.

[0092] Each RF chain 1020 / 1024 may include a digital-to-analog converter that converts the BB signal into the analog domain, a mixer that mixes the baseband signal into an RF signal, and a power amplifier that amplifies the RF signal for transmission.

[0093] The RF signal may be provided to analog BF components 1012 / 1016, which may additionally apply beamforming by providing phase shifts in the analog domain.The RF signal may then be provided to antenna panels 1004 / 1008 for transmission.

[0094] In some embodiments, beamforming may be done solely in the digital domain or solely in the analog domain, instead of the hybrid beamforming shown here.

[0095] In various embodiments, control circuitry that may reside in a baseband processor may provide BF weights to analog / digital BF components to provide transmission beams at corresponding antenna panels. These BF weights may be determined by the control circuitry to provide directional deployment of serving cells as described herein. In some embodiments, the BF components and antenna panels may operate together to provide a dynamic phased array capable of directing a beam in a desired direction.

[0096] Fig.11 An apparatus 1100 is shown in accordance with some embodiments. The base station 1100 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, a mobile base station 118 / 112; a mobile BS CU 604 / 608; a BSDU 612; an AMF 116; or a BSTF 120.

[0097] Base station 1100 may include processor 1104, RF interface circuitry 1108, core network (CN) interface circuitry 1112, memory / storage circuitry 1116, and positioning circuitry 1118. The components of device 1100 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), part of an integrated circuit, discrete electronic device or other module, logical component, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. Fig.11 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of some of the components of device 1100. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0098] Components of the base station 1100 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1128, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system, or extension), transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc., that allows various circuit components (on a common or different chip or chipsets) to interact with each other.

[0099] The processor 1104 may include processor circuits such as, for example, a baseband processor circuit (BB) 1104A, a central processor unit circuit (CPU) 1104B, and a graphics processor unit circuit (GPU) 1104C. The processor 1104 may include any type of circuit or processor circuit that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions (such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from the memory / storage device 1116) to cause the device 1100 to perform operations as described herein.

[0100] In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuit 1104A can access the communication protocol stack 1110 in the memory / storage device 1116 to communicate through a 3GPP compatible network. Generally speaking, the baseband processor circuit 1104A can access the communication protocol stack to: perform user plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, SDAP layer, and PDU layer; and perform control plane functions at the PHY layer, MAC layer, RLC layer, PDCP layer, RRC layer, and non-access layer (NAS) layer. In some embodiments, the PHY layer operations can be additionally / alternatively performed by components of the RF interface circuit 1108.

[0101] The baseband processor circuit 1104A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in a 3GPP-compatible network. In some embodiments, the waveforms used for NR may be based on cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink, and discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0102] The baseband processor circuit 1104A may also access the cell handover information 1114 from the memory / storage 1116 to identify the information needed to assume responsibility for deploying cells at a particular geographic location.

[0103] The memory / storage 1116 may include any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the device 1100. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage 1116 may be located on the processor 1104 itself (e.g., L1 cache and L2 cache), while other memory / storage 1116 is external to the processor 1104 but accessible via a memory interface. The memory / storage 1116 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0104] RF interface circuit 1108 may include transceiver circuits and radio frequency front end modules (RFEMs) that allow device 1100 to communicate with other devices over an air interface. The air interface may be an access cell or a wireless backhaul. RF interface circuit 1108 may include various components arranged in a transmit path or a receive path. These components may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, synthesizer circuits, control circuits, etc.

[0105] In the receive path, the RFEM may receive the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna 1124 and proceed to filter and amplify the signal (using a low noise amplifier). The signal may be provided to the transceiver's receiver, which down-converts the RF signal to a baseband signal that is provided to the baseband processor circuit 1104A.

[0106] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver up-converts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor circuit 1104A and provides an RF signal to the RFEM. The RFEM may amplify the RF signal through a power amplifier before the RF signal is radiated across the air interface via the antenna 1124.

[0107] In various embodiments, the RF interface circuit 1108 may be configured to transmit / receive signals in a manner compatible with NR access technology or 5G backhaul technology.

[0108] Antenna 1124 may include multiple antenna elements, each of which converts electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and converts received radio waves into electrical signals. These antenna elements may be arranged into one or more antenna panels. Antenna 1124 may have an antenna panel that is omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof to achieve beamforming and multiple input / multiple output communications. Antenna 1124 may include a microstrip antenna, a printed antenna manufactured on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, a patch antenna, a phased array antenna, etc. Antenna 1124 may have one or more panels that are designed for a specific frequency band included in a frequency band in FR1 or FR2.

[0109] When the device is used as a core network device to connect to other elements of the core network, a CN interface circuit 1112 may be provided. The CN interface circuit 112 may use a 5GC compatible network interface protocol (such as a carrier Ethernet protocol) or some other suitable protocol. The CN interface circuit 1112 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some specific implementations, the CN controller circuit 1112 may include multiple controllers for providing connections to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0110] The positioning circuit 1118 includes a circuit for receiving and decoding signals to determine the position of the mobile base station 1100. In some embodiments, the signal may be transmitted / broadcasted by a positioning network of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The positioning circuit 1118 may include various hardware elements (e.g., switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc.) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1118 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation and timing, which uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1118 may also be a part of the baseband processor 1104A or the RF interface circuit 1108 or interact with it to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1118 may also provide position data and / or time data to the processor 1104, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures, etc.

[0111] One aspect of the present technology is to collect and use data available from specific and legitimate sources to improve the deployment of cellular network coverage. The present disclosure contemplates that, in some instances, the collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies or can be used to identify a specific person or user device. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, online identifiers, phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, data or records related to a user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information, exercise information), date of birth, or any other personal information.

[0112] The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the present technology can be used to benefit users. For example, the personal information data can be used to provide seamless delivery of radio access network coverage.

[0113] The present disclosure envisions that entities responsible for collecting, analyzing, disclosing, transmitting, storing or otherwise using such personal information data will comply with established privacy policies and / or privacy practices. Specifically, such entities will be expected to implement and consistently apply privacy practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding the requirements of the industry or government that maintain user privacy. Such information about the use of personal data should be highlighted and easily accessible to users, and should be updated as the collection and / or use of data changes. The user's personal information should be collected only for legitimate use. In addition, such collection / sharing should only occur after receiving user consent or other legal basis specified in applicable law. In addition, such entities should consider taking any necessary steps to defend and safeguard access to such personal information data and ensure that others who have access to personal information data comply with their privacy policies and processes. In addition, such entities may subject themselves to third-party assessments to demonstrate that they comply with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should be adjusted for specific types of personal information data collected and / or accessed, and applied to applicable laws and standards, including considerations that are exclusive to jurisdictions that can be used to impose higher standards. For example, in the United States, collection or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); while health data in other countries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should be handled accordingly.

[0114] Regardless of the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplates implementations in which users selectively block the use or access of personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplates that hardware elements and / or software elements may be provided to prevent or block access to such personal information data.

[0115] In addition, it is an object of the present disclosure that personal information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risks can be minimized by limiting data collection and deleting data once it is no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including in certain health-related applications, data de-identification can be used to protect the privacy of users. De-identification can be facilitated by removing identifiers, controlling the amount or specificity of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at a city level rather than at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across users), and / or other methods such as differential privacy, where appropriate.

[0116] Thus, while the present disclosure broadly covers the use of personal information data to implement one or more of the various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that various embodiments may also be implemented without access to such personal information data. That is, various embodiments of the present technology will not fail to function properly due to the lack of all or a portion of such personal information data. For example, content may be selected and delivered to a user based on aggregated non-personal information data or an absolute minimum amount of personal information, such as content processed only on the user's device or other non-personal information that may be used for content delivery services.

[0117] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, or methods described in the following example section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the example section below.

[0118] Example

[0119] In the following sections, additional exemplary embodiments are provided.

[0120] Embodiment 1 includes a method of operating a mobile base station, the method comprising: determining cell switching information related to a geographic location; determining that the mobile base station is close to the geographic location for a certain period of time; and providing a service cell at the geographic location during the time period based on the cell switching information.

[0121] Embodiment 2 includes a method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, wherein providing the serving cell includes: transmitting a synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell based on the cell switching information.

[0122] Embodiment 3 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: determining UE-level information corresponding to a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode within the serving cell.

[0123] Embodiment 4 includes the method according to embodiment 3 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving a transfer request from a source mobile base station via an Xn interface, the transfer request including the UE-level information.

[0124] Embodiment 5 includes a method according to embodiment 4 or some other embodiment herein, wherein providing the serving cell includes: transmitting a channel state information-reference signal to the UE.

[0125] Embodiment 6 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment of the present invention, further comprising: accessing routing information to determine a scheduling route of the mobile base station; and determining at least a portion of the cell switching information and the geographic location based on the scheduling route.

[0126] Embodiment 7 includes the method according to embodiment 6 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving a transfer request from a source mobile base station, the transfer request including at least a portion of the cell switching information.

[0127] Embodiment 8 includes the method according to embodiment 6 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving a message having at least a portion of the routing information or the cell switching information from a base station tracking function in a core network.

[0128] Embodiment 9 includes the method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: transmitting a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) to one or more connected user equipments in the serving cell simultaneously with the source mobile base station.

[0129] Embodiment 10 includes a method according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiment of the present invention, wherein the mobile base station is a mobile base station centralized unit (CU), and providing the service cell includes: providing radio resource control (RRC) layer operation, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer operation or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer operation; and controlling a mobile base station distributed unit (DU) to provide an air interface for the service cell.

[0130] Embodiment 11 includes a method of operating a mobile base station, the method comprising: providing a serving cell for a geographic location; detecting a transfer event; and transmitting cell switching information to a target mobile base station based on the transfer event to transfer deployment of the serving cell to the target mobile base station.

[0131] Embodiment 12 includes a method according to embodiment 11 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the cell handover information includes UE-level information for each user equipment (UE) in connected mode with the mobile base station.

[0132] Embodiment 13 includes a method according to embodiment 12 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the UE-level information includes a UE context of the first UE.

[0133] Embodiment 14 includes a method according to embodiment 12 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the cell handover information includes cell-level information related to a primary cell identity associated with the serving cell.

[0134] Embodiment 15 includes the method according to embodiment 14 or some other embodiment herein, further comprising: receiving the cell-level information from a base station tracking function in a core network based on the routing of the mobile base station.

[0135] Embodiment 16 includes a method according to embodiment 12 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the serving cell is a first serving cell, the geographic location is a first geographic location, and the method further includes: providing a second serving cell at a second geographic location.

[0136] Embodiment 17 includes a method according to embodiment 16 or some other embodiment herein, wherein the mobile base station is a low earth orbit satellite device.

[0137] Embodiment 18 comprises a method for operating a core network function, the method comprising: identifying cell switching information of a service cell associated with a geographic area; determining that a mobile base station is located near the geographic area; and transmitting the cell switching information to the mobile base station based on the determination that the mobile station is located nearby.

[0138] Embodiment 19 includes the method according to embodiment 18 or some other embodiment of the present invention, and also includes: receiving a path switching request from the mobile base station; updating the bearer path to reflect that the downlink transmission to the user equipment will be sent to the mobile base station; and transmitting a path switching request confirmation message to the mobile base station to indicate that the bearer path has been updated.

[0139] Embodiment 20. The method according to claim 18 further includes: determining a route of a mobile base station; identifying cell switching information of a plurality of service cells based on the route, the plurality of service cells being associated with corresponding plurality of geographic areas; and transmitting the cell switching information of the plurality of service cells to the mobile base station.

[0140] Example 21 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Examples 1 to 20, or any other method or process described herein.

[0141] Embodiment 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20 or any other method or process described herein.

[0142] Embodiment 23 may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20, or any other method or process described herein.

[0143] Embodiment 24 may include methods, techniques or processes described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or parts or components thereof.

[0144] Embodiment 25 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20.

[0145] Embodiment 26 may include a signal as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof.

[0146] Embodiment 27 may include a datagram, information element, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message, or a portion or component thereof, as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0147] Embodiment 28 may include a signal encoded with data as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0148] Embodiment 29 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, IE, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described or associated with any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0149] Embodiment 30 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors will cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20.

[0150] Embodiment 31 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process described in or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion thereof.

[0151] Embodiment 32 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0152] Embodiment 33 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0153] Embodiment 34 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0154] Embodiment 35 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0155] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples). 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.

[0156] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to encompass all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the processor circuits to: receiving first information associated with a route to a target satellite; receiving second information associated with switching provision of a serving cell at the geographic location from a source satellite to the target satellite; and Based on the first information and the second information, the target satellite is enabled to send a synchronization signal in the serving cell before the source satellite ends providing the serving cell.

2. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises cell-level information having a physical cell identity or an identity of resources used for cell-level transmission.

3. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor circuit to: Determining, based on the first information, that the target satellite will approach the geographical location for a certain period of time; and Based on determining that the target satellite will approach the geographical location for a certain period of time, the target satellite is caused to provide a service cell at the geographical location for the period of time.

4. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein in order for the target satellite to provide the serving cell, the processor circuit is configured to: The target satellite is caused to transmit the synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell.

5. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises: UE-level information corresponding to a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode within the serving cell.

6. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor circuit to: The first information or the second information is received from the source satellite or a core network function.

7. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor circuit to: The second information is received based on the first information.

8. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processor circuit to: receiving signaling from a core network function; and A transition event is determined based on the signaling, the transition event prompting switching of provision of the serving cell from the source satellite to the target satellite.

9. A method comprising: receiving first information associated with a route to a target satellite; receiving second information associated with switching provision of a serving cell at the geographic location from a source satellite to the target satellite; as well as Based on the first information and the second information, the target satellite is enabled to send a synchronization signal in the serving cell before the source satellite ends providing the serving cell.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first information comprises cell level information having a physical cell identity or an identity of resources used for cell level transmission.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: Determining based on the first information that the target satellite will approach the geographical location for a certain period of time; as well as Based on determining that the target satellite will approach the geographical location for a certain period of time, the target satellite is caused to provide a service cell at the geographical location for the period of time.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein causing the target satellite to provide the serving cell comprises: The target satellite is caused to transmit the synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first information comprises: UE-level information corresponding to a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode within the serving cell.

14. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: The first information or the second information is received from the source satellite or a core network function.

15. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: The second information is received based on the first information.

16. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: receiving signaling from core network functions; as well as A transition event is determined based on the signaling, the transition event prompting switching of provision of the serving cell from the source satellite to the target satellite.

17. An apparatus comprising a circuit for: receiving first information associated with a route to a target satellite; receiving second information associated with switching provision of a serving cell at the geographic location from a source satellite to the target satellite; and Based on the first information and the second information, the target satellite is enabled to send a synchronization signal in the serving cell before the source satellite ends providing the serving cell.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first information comprises cell-level information having a physical cell identity or an identity of resources used for cell-level transmission.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the apparatus is further configured to: Determining, based on the first information, that the target satellite will approach the geographical location for a certain period of time; and Based on determining that the target satellite will approach the geographical location for a certain period of time, the target satellite is caused to provide a service cell at the geographical location for the period of time.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein in order to make the target satellite provide the service cell, the apparatus is configured to: The target satellite is caused to transmit the synchronization signal and system information corresponding to the serving cell.

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