Method for mt EDT in control plane and user plane solutions

Abstract

The disclosure relates to methods, devices and systems for MT EDT in control plane and user plane solutions. The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and devices for mobile station called MT early data transmission (EDT). A method for wireless communication includes receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to a user equipment (UE); determining to initiate a mobile station called (MT) early data transmission (EDT) for the UE based at least in part on one or more of: a UE coverage enhancement (CE) level; a maximum transport block size (TBS); or the UE MT EDT capability information; and in response to determining to initiate the MT EDT, transmitting the downlink data to the UE.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a Chinese invention patent application with an application date of May 1, 2020, a national application number of 202080045214.4, and an invention name of “Methods, devices and systems for MT EDT in control plane and user plane solutions”.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This disclosure claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 841,696, filed May 1, 2019, entitled “MOBILE-TERMINATED (MT) EARLY DATA TRANSMISSION (EDT) IN CONTROL PLANE AND USER PLANE SOLUTIONS,” and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 862,528, filed June 17, 2019, entitled “METHODS FOR MT EDT INCONTROL PLANE AND USER PLANE SOLUTIONS,” which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0004] The present disclosure generally relates to signaling in wireless communication systems. Background Art

[0005] A user equipment (UE) may transmit data wirelessly using a wireless communication network. To transmit data wirelessly, the UE connects to a node of a radio access network (RAN) and synchronizes with the network. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and apparatus for Mobile Station Called (MT) Early Data Transfer (EDT).

[0007] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method involves receiving UE MT EDT capability information for a user equipment (UE). The method also involves receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE. The method also involves determining to initiate MT EDT to transmit downlink data to the UE based on the UE MT EDT capability information. In addition, the method involves initiating MT EDT in response to the determination to send downlink data to the UE-RNTI). In addition, the method involves transmitting an RRC paging message to the UE.

[0008] Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs for performing the actions of the method defined by the instructions encoded on a computer-readable storage device.These and other versions may optionally include one or more of the following features.

[0009] In some implementations, the UE MT EDT capability information indicates that the UE supports a maximum MT EDT transport block size (TBS).

[0010] In some implementations, the UE provides UE capability information as part of the RRC connection establishment process.

[0011] In some implementations, determining to initiate MT EDT is further based on at least one of size information of downlink data of the UE, a Release Assistance Indication (RAI), or an MT EDT operation preference.

[0012] In some implementations, receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE includes receiving, by the MME and from the S-GW, an indication of the downlink data via control plane signaling, wherein the control plane signaling is extended to include downlink data size information.

[0013] In some implementations, receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE includes receiving the downlink data by the MME and from the S-GW via control plane signaling, wherein the control plane signaling is extended to include the downlink data.

[0014] In some implementations, the method also includes transmitting the downlink data to the UE in a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0015] In some specific implementations, the method also includes receiving a reception confirmation from the receiving UE; and determining, based on the confirmation, that the receiving UE is a UE intended to receive downlink data.

[0016] In some implementations, the receipt confirmation is a non-access stratum (NAS) security token received by the receiving UE via layer 2 (L2) signaling.

[0017] In some implementations, the receipt confirmation is received via a network resource assigned to the UE as a non-access stratum (NAS) security token ID.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method involves: receiving, by a next generation Node B (gNB) of an NG-RAN, an MT EDT indication and information indicating downlink data for transmission to a user equipment (UE) served by the gNB, wherein the UE is in a connection management idle (CM-Idle) mode; determining, based on the information indicating the downlink data, to initiate an MT EDT to transmit the downlink data to the UE; generating a radio resource control (RRC) paging message, the RRC paging message including: (i) the MT EDT indication and (ii) an indication of a non-contention (CF) physical random access channel (PRACH) resource; and transmitting the RRC paging message to the UE.

[0019] Other versions include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs for performing the actions of the method defined by the instructions encoded on a computer-readable storage device.These and other versions may optionally include one or more of the following features.

[0020] In some specific implementations, the method may also involve: receiving an RRC response message to an RRC paging message from the UE; sending a request for downlink data to an access and mobility management function (AMF); and receiving a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) protocol data unit (PDU) from the AMF. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 An exemplary messaging diagram of a Msg2-based technique for transmitting downlink (DL) control plane data (CP) to a user equipment (UE) according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 2 An exemplary messaging diagram of a Msg4-based technique for transmitting downlink (DL) control plane data (CP) to a device according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 3 An exemplary messaging diagram of signaling between an MME and an S-GW for transmitting DL data according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 4 An exemplary messaging diagram of a MT data transmission control plane optimization process according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Figure 5 An exemplary message transmission diagram of a MT data transmission control plane optimization process with respect to a 5G system (5GS) according to some specific implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] Fig. 6A and Figure 6BEach shows a flow chart of an exemplary method according to some specific implementations of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 7 An exemplary architecture of a system 700 of a network according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0028] Figure 8 An exemplary architecture of a system including a core network according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0029] Fig. 9 Another exemplary architecture of a system including a core network according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0030] Fig.10 Examples of infrastructure equipment according to some implementations of the present disclosure are shown.

[0031] Fig.11 Examples of platforms or devices according to some specific implementations of the present disclosure are shown.

[0032] Fig.12 Exemplary components of baseband circuitry and radio front-end circuitry according to some implementations of the present disclosure are shown.

[0033] Fig.13 Exemplary protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication system according to some specific implementations of the present disclosure are shown.

[0034] Fig.14 An example of a computer system according to some implementations of the present disclosure is shown.

[0035] Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is a technology designed to address specific cellular IoT (CIoT) constraints. NB-IoT can provide improved indoor coverage, support for a relatively large number of low-throughput devices, low latency sensitivity, low device cost, low device power consumption, and improved network architecture. NB-IoT can be deployed in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) spectrum or the Long Term Evolution (LTE) spectrum. NB-IoT can also be deployed in the fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) technology.

[0037] NB-IoT also supports control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) optimization solutions. The CP solution (referred to as CPCIoT Evolved Packet System (EPS) Optimization) enables support for efficient transmission of user data (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) data or non-IP data) or short message service (SMS) messages via the mobility management entity (MME) through the control plane without establishing a data radio bearer. CPC IoT EPS Optimization can do this by transmitting CP data transmitted through the non-access stratum (NAS). The UP solution (referred to as UP CIoT EPS Optimization) enables the user equipment (UE) to resume a previously stored radio resource control (RRC) connection. The UP solution does this by storing the UE access stratum (AS) context in an access node (e.g., eNodeB (eNB)) and storing the UE AS context on the UE. The UP solution enables a change from EPS Mobility Management (EMM) idle mode to EMM connected mode without using a service request process.

[0038] In addition, NB-IoT may provide support for early data transmission (EDT), which facilitates infrequent transmission of small data packets. Specifically, EDT may facilitate data transmission from and / or to a UE in an idle or suspended state without transitioning the UE to a connected state. In this way, EDT enables data transmission without restoring the RRC connection. In some implementations, small data transmission may be applicable to EDT transmission if the data does not exceed a predetermined threshold, such as a transmission of less than N bytes, where N is a predetermined value, such as 100, 128, 256, 512, and 1024. Other values ​​of N are also possible.

[0039] In the implementation process, there is a mobile originated (MO) EDT solution. This solution enables uplink (UL) data to be transmitted in Msg3, and downlink (DL) data to be transmitted in Msg4. However, the existing system does not support the transmission of DL data in Msg4 without first transmitting the UL data in Msg3. That is, the existing system does not support mobile called (MT) EDT. However, this solution may have many advantages, including improved DL transmission efficiency and / or UE power consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an MT EDT solution.

[0040] The present disclosure describes systems and methods for implementing MT EDT solutions for UEs that can use CP and / or UP C-IoT EPS optimization. Specifically, the present disclosure describes Msg2-based techniques and Msg4-based techniques that can be used for DL ​​data transmission. In addition, the present disclosure describes specific implementation details for Msg2-based techniques and Msg4-based techniques. It should be noted that although the present disclosure generally describes systems and methods in the context of CP DL data transmission, the systems and methods can also be applied to UP DL data transmission.

[0041] Msg2-based technology

[0042] Figure 1 An exemplary messaging diagram 100 of a Msg2-based technique for transmitting downlink (DL) control plane data (CP) to a user equipment (UE) according to some implementations is shown. In one embodiment, a wireless communication system may implement MT EDT using a Msg2-based technique (also referred to as a "Msg2-based solution"). Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication system includes MME 130, S-GW 140 and eNB 150. eNB 150 is an access point (AP) of a radio access network (RAN) serving UE 160. In this example, UE 160 can be configured to use CP CIoT EPS optimization. In addition, in this example, S-GW 140 provides DL CP data, but in other examples, SCEF can provide DL CP data (for example, to MME 130). Note that although Figure 1 Although a single eNB and a single UE are shown in FIG. 1 , the wireless communication system may include multiple eNBs and / or multiple UEs.

[0043] The Msg2-based technique begins at step 102 of the messaging diagram 100. At step 102, the S-GW 140 (or SCEF) sends CP data information to the MME 130. The CP data information may include an indication of the arrival of DL CP data and / or size information of the DL data. In one example, the DL CP data may arrive at the S-GW 140, which may generate the CP data information and send the CP data information to the MME 130. At step 104, and after receiving the CP data information, the MME 130 initiates an MTEDT. In some examples, when the CP DL data arrives at the S-GW 140, the data may be made available to the MME 130 by forwarding the data to the MME 130.

[0044] The MME 130 determines to initiate MT EDT to send CP DL data to the UE 160. The MME 130 then generates an S1-AP paging message including an MTEDT indication and CP data information. Then, at step 106, the MME 130 transmits the S1-AP paging message to the eNB 150. At step 108, and after receiving the S1-AP paging message, the eNB 150 determines whether to use MTEDT to transmit DL data to the UE 160. The eNB 150 may make the determination based on UE capabilities (e.g., whether the UE is capable of using MT EDT). If the eNB 150 decides to use MT EDT, the eNB 150 determines a non-contention (CF) physical random access channel (PRACH) resource index, a preamble index, and / or an EDT radio network temporary identifier (EDT-RNTI). This information may be collectively referred to as MT EDT information. This information enables the UE 160 to transmit Msg1 and determine the EDT-RNTI for receiving Msg2. In addition, the EDT-RNTI information may be a specific EDT-RNTI (eg, a reserved EDT-RNTI) or an offset value of the EDT-RNTI.

[0045] At step 110, the eNB 150 sends a paging message (e.g., an RRC message) to the UE 160. The paging message includes, among other information, an MT EDT indication, CF PRACH resources, and / or EDTA-RNTI. At step 112, and after the UE 160 receives the paging message, the UE 160 responds to the paging message using the received CF PRACH resources. Figure 1 As shown, UE 160 responds with Msg1, which may include a CF preamble (for receiving RRC messages). At step 114, and after receiving Msg1, eNB 150 may identify UE 160 based on the CF preamble included in Msg1. eNB 150 also generates an S1-AP initial message to send to MME 130. The initial message may include a request to send DL CP data.

[0046] At step 116, the eNB 150 sends the S1-AP initial message to the MME 130. At step 118, and in response to receiving the S1-AP initial message, the MME 130 sends DL CP data (e.g., NAS PDU) to the eNB 150. At step 120, the eNB 150 sends an RRC message (Msg2) to the UE 160. Msg2 may include DL CP data that may be in dedicatedinfoNAS. In this technique, because the CP DL data is sent in the NAS PDU, the data may be protected by NAS security. The UE 160 may use the EDT-RNTI information to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to receive the DL CP data. In one example, the UE 160 determines a specific EDT-RNTI resource to monitor based on the EDT-RNTI information included in the paging message. The UE 160 may then receive Msg2 via the monitored resources. In some examples, eNB 150 may also send a random access response (RAR) including a timing advance (TA) and a UL grant to UE 160, which UE 160 may use for UL ACK transmission. UE 160 may receive the RAR in the same Msg2 or in a separate message.

[0047] At step 122, UE 160 transmits an RRC message (Msg3) including a NAS PDU using the UL grant provided in the RAR. The NAS PDU may be a NAS ACK or a UL ACK for the received CP DL data. At step 124, eNB 150 forwards the NAS PDU to MME 130. In addition, as indicated by block 126, if the ACK contains NAS signaling, the network may determine whether the UE is fake (e.g., an unintended recipient). If the UE is fake, process 100 is repeated.

[0048] Msg4-based technology

[0049] Figure 2 An exemplary message transmission diagram 200 of a Msg4-based technique for transmitting downlink (DL) control plane data (CP) to a device according to some implementations is shown. In this example, with respect to Figure 1The described wireless communication system uses a Msg4-based technique (also referred to as a "Msg4-based solution") to implement MT EDT. The Msg4-based technique begins at step 202 of the message transmission diagram 200. At step 202, the S-GW 140 (or SCEF) sends CP data information to the MME 130. In some examples, when the CP DL data arrives at the S-GW 140, the data may be made available to the MME 130 by forwarding the data to the MME 130. At step 204, and after receiving the DL data, the MME 130 determines to initiate an MTEDT to send the CP DL data to the UE 160. The MME 130 also generates an S1-AP paging message including the MT EDT indication and the DL data information.

[0050] At step 206, MME 130 transmits an S1-AP paging message to eNB 150. At step 208, and after receiving the S1-AP paging message, eNB 150 determines whether to use MT EDT to transmit CP DL data to UE 160. eNB 150 may make the determination based on UE capabilities. If eNB 150 decides to use MT EDT, eNB 150 generates a paging message including an MT EDT indication. At step 210, eNB 150 sends a paging message (e.g., an RRC message) to UE 160. At step 212, and after UE 160 receives the paging message, UE 160 responds to the paging message using Msg1 including the MO EDT preamble. At step 214, eNB 150 sends Msg2 including an RAR including the UL grant size to UE 160. At step 216, UE 160 transmits an RRC message (Msg3) including a NAS service request. For example, the RRC message may be an RRC EarlyData Request message. At step 218, and after receiving Msg3, eNB 150 generates an S1-AP Initial message to send to MME 130. The initial message may include a request to send DL data.

[0051] At step 220, MME 130 determines whether the UE is fake. If the UE is fake, MME 130 determines not to deliver the DL data to the UE. Instead, MME 130 sends a rejection message and repeats process 200. At step 222, and in response to determining that UE 160 is the intended recipient, MME 130 may send DL data (e.g., NAS PDU) to eNB 150 using a DL NAS transfer message. At step 224, eNB 150 sends an RRC message (Msg4) that may include the DL data in dedicatedInfoNAS to UE 160. At step 226, UE 160 may optionally transmit an RRC message (Msg5) including UL ACK data to the eNB. At step 228, eNB 150 forwards the UE ACK and / or UL data to MME 130, which may forward the NAS PDU to S-GW 140. After successful transmission of the UL data, MT EDT is completed from the perspective of UE 160 .

[0052] As explained with respect to both techniques, the S-GW provides the DL data to the MME. However, when the S-GW provides, the DL may depend on the size and / or number of packets of the DL data. In one embodiment, if the DL data is a single packet and / or is less than a predetermined threshold, the S-GW may provide the DL data to the MME upon receipt of the DL data. For example, in Figure 1 In the example of , the S-GW may provide the DL data to the MME in step 102. However, if the DL data is more than one packet and / or is greater than a predetermined threshold, the S-GW cannot simply forward the DL data to the MME. Instead, a bearer must be established between the MME and the S-GW to transfer the data.

[0053] Figure 3An exemplary messaging diagram 300 of signaling between an MME and an S-GW for transmitting DL data according to some implementations is shown. Specifically, the signaling may occur when the S-GW cannot forward the DL data to the MME (e.g., the DL data is more than one packet and / or is greater than a predetermined threshold). At step 302, the P-GW 170 provides the DL data to the S-GW 140. Upon receiving the data, the S-GW 140 determines whether the DL data can be forwarded to the MME 130. For example, the S-GW 140 may make a determination based on the number of packets of the DL data and / or whether the size of the DL data exceeds a predetermined threshold. If the S-GW 140 determines that the DL data cannot be forwarded, the S-GW 140 sends a DL data arrival indication to the MME 130. Upon receiving the indication, the MME 130 engages in signaling with the eNB at step 306, as described above. Later, the MME 130 may receive an S1-AP request for the DL data at step 308. In response, at step 310, MME 130 engages in signaling with S-GW 140 to establish a bearer between MME 130 and S-GW 140. At step 312, S-GW 140 sends DL data to MME 130 via the established bearer. At step 314, MME 130 sends DL data to the eNB using S1-AP signaling. Then, at step 316, the bearer is deactivated.

[0054] MT EDT initiated

[0055] When the data arrives at the S-GW, a default S11-U tunnel may have been established between the S-GW and the MME. In this case, the MME buffers the DL data (instead of the S-GW). However, if a default S11-U tunnel is not established, it may be necessary to establish an S11-U tunnel (e.g., an SGi packet data network (PDN) connection with only a control plane indicator, see, for example, 3GPP TS 23.401, 5.10.2). In this case, the S-GW buffers the DL data and sends a DL data notification to the MME. Then, when the MME receives a service request from the UE or the MME locates the UE, the MME may request the S-GW to activate the EPS bearer in order to receive DL data from the S-GW. Later, when the UE is released, the MME must deactivate the EPS bearer with the S-GW. This process of establishing an EPS bearer (e.g., establishing an S11-U tunnel) for the purpose of only small data transfer may be unnecessary and resource inefficient.

[0056] In one embodiment, signaling between the MME and the S-GW is optimized to avoid establishing unnecessary EPS bearers. In one example, the S-GW determines whether the DL data is applicable to MT EDT before forwarding the DL data to the MME. Therefore, the S-GW (or P-GW) itself makes a preliminary decision whether the DL data is applicable to MT EDT. In order to forward the DL data, the control plane signaling S11 is extended to encapsulate the DL data sent to the MME. In another example, the signaling between the MME and the S-GW is optimized by extending the control plane signaling S11 to include DL data size information when sending a DL data arrival notification to the MME. In this example, the MME can determine whether to use MT EDT. In the example, the DL data size information can be performed as follows: (i) sent from an application server (AS) together with the DL data, (ii) derived in a network exposure function (NEF) when the DL data arrives at the NEF from the AS, (iii) derived at the MME, and / or (iv) derived at the S-GW when receiving DL data from the P-GW.

[0057] Note that in the Msg4-based technique, EPS bearer establishment may not be a problem because the conventional signaling procedures can be used as much as possible. Therefore, the EPS bearer activation and deactivation procedures can be reused. However, in the Msg2-based technique, since the UE does not transmit a NAS service request, the EPS bearer establishment procedure cannot be reused. Therefore, in some examples, signaling optimization can be used for the Msg2-based technique instead of the Msg4-based technique. In other examples, signaling optimization can be used for both the Msg4-based technique and the Msg2-based technique, or only for the Msg4-based technique.

[0058] When DL data is available in the MME, the MME may determine DL data size information and whether the DL data includes a single packet or multiple packets. For DL ​​CP data, the MME may also receive additional information such as a release assistance indication (RAI), which may indicate whether an acknowledgement or response is expected after the data transmission (e.g., whether an uplink (UL) acknowledgement (ACK) in response to the DL data is expected). In addition, in some examples, the MME may determine whether to use MT EDT to transmit the DL data. In one embodiment, when determining whether to use MT EDT, the MME may consider one or more factors. These factors include the number of packets for transmission (e.g., a single or multiple DL data packets), RAI (e.g., whether further DL / UL data is expected), DL data size information and / or MT EDT capabilities. In one example, the eNB may inform the MME of the maximum supported TBS size for the MT EDT of the UE. The MME may store it in the local context of the UE. The UE may provide the eNB with the UE capability to support the maximum MT EDT TBS size in Msg5 (e.g., RRCConnectionSetupComplete message) during the RRC connection establishment process.

[0059] Response to a paging message for MT EDT

[0060] In the Msg2-based technology, the UE can use non-contention (CF) PRACH resources to respond to the paging message of the MT EDT. In one example, the UE uses the CF preamble indicated by the paging message and includes the CF preamble in the response. In this example, the eNB can use the CF preamble to locate the UE. However, assuming that only the coverage enhancement (CE) level or the number of repetitions can be provided in the paging message, the physical random access channel (PRACH) parameters for the CF preamble must be determined.

[0061] In one embodiment, the same non-EDT configuration may be used for Msg1 and Msg2 for the indicated CE level or number of repetitions, except for those parameters explicitly or implicitly indicated by the paging message or DCI itself.

[0062] In one example, for a Msg2-based technique, if the UE has not successfully received Msg2, one of a number of methods may be used to determine the length of time that the retained CF preamble remains valid. In a first method, the length of time is based on a validity timer. In this method, the retained CF preamble remains valid until the validity timer expires. In a second method, the length of time is based on a maximum limit for transmitting CF preambles. In this method, the retained CF preamble remains valid until the maximum limit for transmitting CF preambles is reached. In a third method, the length of time is based on an "x" number of CF preamble transmission opportunities, where "x" is a positive integer. In this method, after receiving a paging message, the retained CF preamble is valid for the next "x" number of CF preamble transmission opportunities. In a fourth method, the retained CF preamble is valid only for the next CF preamble transmission opportunity. Other methods are possible and are contemplated herein.

[0063] Unlike the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order in RRC connected mode, the CF preamble must be reserved by multiple cells in the tracking area. Therefore, it is desirable to use the preamble quickly. Since paging retransmissions can be used for MT EDT, once the UE starts monitoring PDCCH, it may not be necessary to keep the CF preamble reserved for an extended period. For example, an integer x (e.g., x≥1) may be predefined or configured so that the CF preamble is not used after the next "x" number of CF preamble transmission opportunities after receiving the paging message. If the UE does not receive any response to the preamble transmission (e.g., assuming that the network does not receive the preamble), the network is able to retransmit the paging message. Therefore, the UE can monitor P-RNTI and EDT-RNTI simultaneously. In one example, EDT-RNTI is assigned a higher priority. In another example, P-RNTI takes precedence over EDT-RNTI. Alternatively, if the UE does not receive any response to the preamble transmission, the UE may decide to follow the traditional process by transitioning to RRC connected mode.

[0064] In one embodiment, non-contention preamble retransmissions may be used. In one example, power ramping and / or CE level changes are allowed. In another example, power ramping and / or CE level changes are not allowed.

[0065] In the Msg4-based technique, the UE may start using the MOEDT preamble upon receiving the MT EDT indication in the paging message. Since the UE may transmit a NAS service request in Msg3, the UE may require an UL grant that is larger than the minimum UL grant of 56 bits in the RAR. Note that in this case, the UE cannot use the traditional non-EDT preamble. One problem that may arise from using the MO EDT preamble is that the eNB may not know whether the UE is initiating MO EDT or MT EDT.

[0066] In one embodiment, one or more of the following methods may address this problem. In a first method, a new TBS for EDT is defined. Specifically, a new TBS size that is smaller than the minimum TBS (328 bits) provided in the RAR may be defined. In a second method, PRACH resources are dedicated or reserved for MT EDT. In a third method, the UE leaves the decision whether to use an EDT or non-EDT preamble. In a fourth method, the corresponding CF preamble for each CE level is indicated in the paging message.

[0067] In some cases, the CF preamble may be included in a paging message for a technique based on Msg4. In one example, an initial CE level or repetition level is indicated in a paging message. In this example, the UE uses a conventional non-EDT or EDTRACH configuration and a PRACH resource corresponding to the indicated level (the only difference is the transmission of the CF preamble). In addition, in this example, the UE receives a conventional RAR that includes an UL grant sufficient to transmit Msg3 along with a NAS service request.

[0068] In another example, when the indicated CE level or repetition level for the CF preamble in the paging message has a higher quality than the current CE level or repetition level of the UE, the UE falls back to the legacy EDT or non-EDT preamble. For example, if the UE is operating in CE level 3, but the paging indicates that DL data is transmitted with consideration of CE level 0, the UE may send a legacy non-EDT or EDT preamble for CE level 3.

[0069] In yet another example, a respective CF preamble corresponding to each CE level is indicated in a paging message.In yet another example, an initial CE level or a repetition level is determined by the UE based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold.

[0070] DL data reception

[0071] In one embodiment, to receive DL data (e.g., in Msg2 or Msg4), the UE may use conventional procedures. Specifically, the RAR window and frequency hopping configuration of the conventional RACH may be used. In addition, the DCI provides dynamic DL allocation for Msg2.

[0072] In one example, the legacy RACH-ConfigCommon and PRACH-Parameters CE-r13 for non-EDT are used to receive DL data. In another example, the RACH configuration and PRACH parameters for EDT may be used. In yet another example, new configurations for RACH and PRACH parameters may be defined for MT EDT.

[0073] After transmitting the CF preamble, the UE monitors the PDCCH to receive Msg2. Although the UE may be monitoring EDT-RNTI, a legacy RAR may be sent if the eNB decides to transition the UE to RRC connected mode. The legacy RAR may include a temporary cell RNTI (C-RNTI), a TA command, and an UL grant.

[0074] In one embodiment, unlike the legacy Msg2, the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback of Msg2 may be considered for fast retransmission (similar to the HARQ feedback for Msg4).

[0075] In one embodiment, if HARQ feedback is transmitted in the UL, the UE may restart the Msg2 receive window. In addition, a maximum Msg2 HARQ retransmission limit may be defined, which may be similar to the traditional Msg3 HARQ retransmission limit. In one example, the UE transmits a HARQ NACK only if the UE does not successfully receive the Msg2.

[0076] Response to DL data

[0077] In some cases, the UE may move to a different cell. However, if the UE moves, the UE may be in a worse coverage level than when it was last in RRC connected mode. But the eNB may transmit the paging message assuming that the UE has a better coverage level. Therefore, the intended UE may miss the paging message, while a fake UE (e.g., an attacker) may respond to the paging message. Or the network may not receive the preamble from the intended UE, but receive the preamble from the fake UE.

[0078] In the Msg2 based technology, the MME sends DL data before receiving any NAS signaling from a legitimate UE. Since the eNB may not guarantee that it receives the preamble from the intended UE and the DL data is sent to the intended UE (because any fake UE can send the preamble), a secure signaling from the UE is required as a confirmation of the Msg2 with DL data.

[0079] In one embodiment, a mechanism may be used to confirm that Msg2 is received by the intended UE. To this end, the eNB may additionally provide a TA command and an UL grant. The UE may send an UL NAS PDU with a NAS confirmation. In this case, the UE needs to transmit an UL ACK for the received DL data, so the UL NAS PDU may contain the application UL ACK data. In one example, a dedicated UE-specific PUCCH configuration may also be used for confirmation, provided that this configuration is not shared with other UEs.

[0080] For Msg2 based techniques, the following mechanisms may be used to confirm that Msg2 is received by the intended UE. In the first mechanism, dedicated UE specific layer 1 (L1) signaling is used as ACK / NACK. In the second mechanism, layer 2 (L2) signaling for carrying a NAS security token (e.g., 16-bit UL NAS MAC and 5-bit UL NAS count) may be used. In the third mechanism, L1 or L2 ACK in PUSCH may be used, which uses the RNTI assigned to the UE by the MME as a 16-bit NAS security token ID. In the fourth mechanism, an RRC message carrying NAS signaling or UL data for DL ​​data feedback may be used.

[0081] For the Msg4-based technology, the MME can identify the legitimate UE from the NAS service request before the CP DL data is sent. Therefore, no security mechanism is required to confirm that the Msg2 is received by the expected UE.

[0082] However, in some cases, the Msg4-based technique may send the UE back to IDLE mode without the opportunity for the UE to transmit application UL data (e.g., as feedback to DL data). On the other hand, in the Msg2-based technique, the eNB may provide an UL grant in Msg2 regardless of whether the UE needs to transmit UL application feedback data, which may be because a NAS security token may be required in the uplink. However, in some cases, the size of the UL application feedback data may be larger than the NAS signaling PDU.

[0083] In one example, the network (e.g., by the eNB) may provide sufficient UL grants together with the MT EDT data by default so that the UE can transmit the application UL data. In another example, the network may schedule the UL grant after transmitting the MT EDT data based on the UE's message processing time (e.g., Msg2 or Msg4). Once the UL grant is received or the indication of the schedule (e.g., UL grant) is provided in Msg2 or Msg4, the UE may delay the release process or return to IDLE mode in order to receive the UL grant and complete the physical uplink control channel (PUSCH) transmission.

[0084] In one embodiment, when the UE sends an RRC Connection Request to transition to RRC Connected mode, the UE may indicate that it prefers to receive an UL grant to transmit application UL data in Msg5 (e.g., in the RRCConnectionSetupComplete message). The MME stores this information in the UE's context and provides it to the eNB when initiating MT EDT.

[0085] UE capability indication for supporting MT-EDT

[0086] In one embodiment, the UE may indicate its ability to support MT-EDT. In one example, the UE may indicate its support for MT-EDT as UE core network capabilities information sent to the MME in the Attach Request during the Attach procedure. If the UE supports MT-EDT as indicated in the UE network capabilities, the MME may consider this parameter as one of the inputs for initiating MT-EDT for DL ​​data.

[0087] MT release from the service capability server / application server (SCS / AS) via the service capability exposure function (SCEF) Auxiliary instructions

[0088] In one embodiment, to support MT-EDT transmission during non-IP data transfer (NIDD), the SCS / AS may send an MT release assistance indicator along with the non-IP data in the MT NIDD commit request sent to the SCEF. The indicator may indicate a single downlink packet transmission and / or a dual downlink packet transmission (DL with subsequent UL).

[0089] SGi tunnel parameters to support MT-EDT via P-GW connection

[0090] In one embodiment, in order to support MT-EDT transmission in mobile terminal data transmission using P-GW connection, SGi PtP tunneling based on UDP / IP is used to deliver non-IP data. In one example, tunnel parameters (e.g., destination IP address, UDP port, MT-EDT) for SGi tunneling are pre-configured on P-GW. MT-EDT tunnel parameters indicate that the associated User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port will be used for MT-EDT.

[0091] MT NIDD process to support MT-EDT (relative to EPS)

[0092] In one embodiment, the network may support the MT NIDD procedure for MT-EDT (relative to EPS). In the first step of the procedure, the SCEF includes the MT release assistance indicator in the NIDD submission request sent to the MME. In the second step, if the UE is in ECM_IDLE, the MME determines to include the MT-EDT indicator, DL data size and / or MT release assistance indicator (if sent from the SCEF to the MME) in the paging message transmitted to the eNB based on the MT-EDT capability of the UE and the MT release assistance indicator received from the SCEF. In the third step, the UE is paged by the eNB. In the fourth step, the UE responds with an RRC message that uses the preamble indicated by the paging message from the eNB. In the fifth step, the eNB sends an initial UE message with a downlink data request indicator to the MME. In the sixth step, the MME responds with a DL data PDU using a DL NAS transport message. In the seventh step, the eNB delivers the DL data to the UE. In the eighth step, the UE confirms the data delivery using NASACK and / or UL data (if any). In the ninth step, the eNB forwards the NAS ACK to the MME. In the tenth step, the MME sends the NIDD submission response to the SCEF, confirming the NIDD submission request from the SCEF.

[0093] MT data transmission control plane optimization process to support MT-EDT (relative to EPS)

[0094] Also disclosed is a MT data transmission control plane optimization procedure (relative to EPS) to support MT-EDT.

[0095] Figure 4 An exemplary message transmission diagram 400 of a MT data transmission control plane optimization process according to some specific implementations is shown. Figure 4As shown, the process can be implemented by a wireless communication system including MME 432, S-GW 440, P-GW 470 and eNB 450. eNB 450 is an access point (AP) of a radio access network (RAN) serving UE 460. As shown in block 402, UE 460 is in ECM idle mode. In one embodiment, the AS sends DL data through an SGi tunnel pre-configured for MT-EDT. When P-GW 470 receives data on a UDP port pre-configured for MT-EDT, at step 404, the P-GW forwards the DL data to S-GW 440 via a corresponding EPS bearer. Upon receiving the DL data, if an S11-U tunnel is established, at step 406, S-GW 440 forwards the data to MME 432. Otherwise, S-GW 440 sends a DL data notification message with DL data size information to MME 432. After this step, the process continues using the same steps of the MT NIDD process (starting from the second step) to support MT-EDT (with respect to EPS).

[0096] In one embodiment, if information indicating UE MT-EDT capability is available in MME 432, MME 432 includes the MT-EDT indicator, DL data size information, and / or MT release assistance indicator in the S1-AP paging message. At step 408, MME 432 may send an Ack message to S-GW 440. If eNB 450 receives the paging message from MME 432 at step 410, the UE is paged by eNB 450 at step 412. In the case where the preamble is sent in the paging message at step 412, an RRC UL message is sent from UE 460 to eNB 450 at step 414. At step 416, eNB 450 sends an S1-AP initial message with a DL data request to MME 432. At step 418, if S11-U has not been established, steps 418, 420, and 422 are performed. At step 422, the buffered DL data (if S11-U is not established) is sent from the S-GW 440 to the MME 432. At step 424, the MME 432 ciphers and integrity protects the DL data and sends the DL data to the eNB 450 using a NAS PDU carried by a DL S1-AP message. At step 426, the NAS PDU with the data is delivered to the UE 460 via a DL RRC message. At step 428, a NAS ACK with the option UL data is delivered to the eNB 450 via a UL RRC message. At step 430, the eNB 450 sends an uplink S1-AP message with NAS to the MME 432.

[0097] UE capability indication for supporting MT-EDT (relative to 5GS)

[0098] In one embodiment, the UE may indicate its support for MT-EDT in the Registration Request as UE Mobility Management (MM) Core Network Capability information sent to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) during the registration procedure. If the UE supports MT-EDT as indicated in the UE MM Core Network Capability, the AMF shall consider this parameter as one of the inputs for initiating MT-EDT for DL ​​data.

[0099] MT release assistance instructions from AS / SCS via NEF

[0100] In one embodiment, to support MT-EDT transmission during NIDD, the SCS / AS sends an MT Release Assistance Indicator with Non-IP Data in an MT NIDD Commit Request that is sent to the Network Exposure Function (NEF) to indicate: (i) a single downlink packet transmission or (ii) a dual downlink packet transmission (e.g., DL with subsequent UL).

[0101] SGI tunnel parameters to support MT-EDT via UPF

[0102] In one embodiment, to support MT-EDT transport in mobile terminal data transmission with user plane function (UPF), N6 PtP tunneling based on UDP / IP can be used to deliver non-IP data. Tunnel parameters (e.g., destination IP address, UDP port, MT-EDT) for N6 tunneling can be pre-configured on SMF / UPF. MT-EDT tunnel parameters indicate that the associated UDP port will be used for MT-EDT.

[0103] MT NIDD process to support MT-EDT (relative to 5GS)

[0104] The MT NIDD process for MT-EDT (relative to 5GS) is also disclosed.

[0105] In the first step of the procedure, the Application Function (AF) sends the MT Release Assistance Indicator Nnef_NIDD_DeliveryRequest to the Network Exposure Function (NEF). In the second step, the NEF includes the MT Release Assistance Indicator in the Nnef_NIDD_Delivery Request sent to the Session Management Function (SMF). In the third step, the SMF forwards the data with the MT Release Assistance Indicator to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) in a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message. In the fourth step, if the SMF receives the MT Release Assistance Indicator, when the UE is in Connection Management (CM)-IDLE and the AMF knows the UE MT-EDT capability, the AMF initiates a paging procedure and includes the MT-EDT indicator, the downlink data size and the MT Release Assistance Indicator in the paging message to the NG-RAN (optionally if sent from the NEF).

[0106] In the fifth step, the UE is paged by the NG-RAN (e.g., gNB). In the sixth step, the UE responds with an RRC message using the preamble indicated by the paging message from the NG-RAN. In the seventh step, the NG-RAN sends an UL NAS message with a downlink data request indicator to the AMF. In the eighth step, the AMF responds with a downlink NAS transfer message with data PDUs. In the ninth step, the NG-RAN delivers the downlink data to the UE. In the tenth step, the UE confirms the data delivery with a NAS ACK and optionally with UL data (if any). In the eleventh step, the NG-RAN forwards the NAS ACK to the AMF. In the twelfth step, the AMF may send the NAS ACK to the SMF in a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message. In the thirteenth step, the SMF sends a Nsmf_NIDDDelivery Response to the NEF. In the fourteenth step, the NEF sends a Nnef_NIDD_Delivery Response to the AF confirming the data delivery to the UE.

[0107] MT data transmission control plane optimization process to support MT-EDT (relative to 5G system (5GS))

[0108] Also disclosed is a MT data transmission control plane optimization process (relative to 5GS) to support MT-EDT.

[0109] Figure 5An exemplary message transmission diagram 500 of a MT data transmission control plane optimization process with respect to a 5G system (5GS) according to some specific implementations is shown. Figure 5 As shown, 5GS may include UPF 570, SMF 540, AMF 530 and NG-RAN 550 (or its nodes, such as gNB). Figure 5 As shown, NG-RAN 550 serves UE 560.

[0110] In one embodiment, if the UE 560 is in CM-Idle, then at step 502, the AMF 530 sends a paging message to the NG-RAN 550. The AMF 530 may include the MT-EDT indication and / or the size information of the DL data in the paging message. If the information in the AMF 530 is available, the AMF 530 may also include information about the UE MT-EDT capability. At step 504, if the NG-RAN 550 receives the paging message from the AMF 530, the NG-RAN 550 performs paging. Specifically, the NG-RAN 550 may generate a paging message that is sent to the UE 560. The paging message (e.g., DL RRC) may include a preamble (e.g., a preamble index). At step 506, a UL RRC message is sent from the UE 560 to the NG-RAN 550, wherein the preamble is sent in the paging message from step 504. At step 508, the NG-RAN 550 sends a UL NAS transfer message with a DL data request to the AMF 530. At step 510, the AMF 530 sends the DL data request to the SMF 540 in a Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer message.

[0111] At step 512, the SMF 540 instructs the UPF 570 to deliver the buffered data to the SMF 540 in the N4 Session Modification Request. At step 514, the UPF 570 sends an N4 Session Modification Response, and at 516, delivers the buffered data to the SMF 540. At step 518, if header compression is applied to the PDU session, the SMF 540 compresses the header and encapsulates the downlink data as a payload in the NAS message. In addition, the SMF 540 forwards the NAS message and the PDU Session ID to the AMF 530 using the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation. At step 520, the AMF 530 sends the DL NAS Transfer message to the NG-RAN 550. At step 522, the NG-RAN 550 delivers the NAS payload to the UE 560 via RRC. At step 524, the UE 560 sends a NAS Confirmation message to the NG-RAN 550 via RRC. At step 526, the NG-RAN 550 sends a NAS confirmation message to the AMF 530 in a DL NAS transport message.

[0112] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B 600 is a flowchart of an exemplary process according to some specific implementations. For clarity of presentation, the following description generally describes the process in the context of other figures in this specification. For example, process 600 can be performed by a base station (e.g., Figure 1 For example, process 610 may be performed by a gNB. However, it should be understood that these processes may be performed by any suitable system, environment, software and hardware or a combination of systems, environments, software and hardware as appropriate. In some implementations, the steps of the process may be performed in parallel, in combination, in a loop or in any order.

[0113] Fig. 6A 6 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 600 for mobile station called (MT) early data transmission (EDT). At step 602, the method involves receiving UE MT EDT capability information for a user equipment (UE). At step 604, the method involves receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE. At step 606, the method involves determining to initiate MT EDT to transmit downlink data to the UE based on the UE MT EDT capability information. At step 608, the method involves initiating MT EDT to send downlink data to the UE in response to the determination.

[0114] In some implementations, the UE MT EDT capability information indicates that the UE supports a maximum MT EDT transport block size (TBS).

[0115] In some implementations, the UE provides UE capability information as part of the RRC connection establishment process.

[0116] In some implementations, determining to initiate MT EDT is further based on at least one of size information of downlink data of the UE, a Release Assistance Indication (RAI), or an MT EDT operation preference.

[0117] In some implementations, receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE includes receiving, by the MME and from the S-GW, an indication of the downlink data via control plane signaling, wherein the control plane signaling is extended to include downlink data size information.

[0118] In some implementations, receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE includes receiving the downlink data by the MME and from the S-GW via control plane signaling, wherein the control plane signaling is extended to include the downlink data.

[0119] In some implementations, the method also includes transmitting the downlink data to the UE in a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0120] In some specific implementations, the method also includes receiving a reception confirmation from the receiving UE; and determining, based on the confirmation, that the receiving UE is a UE intended to receive downlink data.

[0121] In some implementations, the receipt confirmation is a non-access stratum (NAS) security token received by the receiving UE via layer 2 (L2) signaling.

[0122] In some implementations, the receipt confirmation is received via a network resource assigned to the UE as a non-access stratum (NAS) security token ID.

[0123] Figure 6Bis a flow chart of an exemplary method 610 for mobile station called (MT) early data transfer (EDT). At step 612, the method involves receiving, by a next generation node B (gNB) of an NG-RAN, an MT EDT indication and information indicating downlink data for transmission to a user equipment (UE) served by the gNB, wherein the UE is in a connection management idle (CM-Idle) mode. At step 614, the method involves determining to initiate an MT EDT to transmit the downlink data to the UE based on the information indicating the downlink data. At step 616, the method involves generating a radio resource control (RRC) paging message, the RRC paging message including: (i) the MT EDT indication and (ii) an indication of a non-contention (CF) physical random access channel (PRACH) resource. At step 618, the method involves transmitting the RRC paging message to the UE.

[0124] In some specific implementations, the method may also involve: receiving an RRC response message to an RRC paging message from the UE; sending a request for downlink data to an access and mobility management function (AMF); and receiving a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) protocol data unit (PDU) from the AMF.

[0125] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The exemplary processes shown may be modified or reconfigured to include additional, fewer, or different steps ( Fig. 6A and Figure 6B ), these steps may be performed in the order shown or in a different order.

[0126] Figure 7 An exemplary architecture of a system 700 of a network according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an example system 700 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.

[0127] like Figure 7As shown, system 700 includes UE 701a and UE 701b (collectively referred to as "multiple UEs 701" or "UE 701"). In this example, multiple UEs 701 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-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument panels (ICs), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDTs), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control units (ECUs), electronic / engine electronic control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0128] In some embodiments, any of the plurality of UEs 701 may include an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing 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.

[0129] Multiple UEs 701 may be configured, for example, to be communicatively coupled to a RAN 710. In an embodiment, the RAN 710 may be an NG RAN or a 5G RAN, an E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as a UTRAN or a GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN" or the like may refer to a RAN 710 operating in an NR or 5G system 700, while the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to a RAN 710 operating in an LTE or 4G system 700. Multiple UEs 701 utilize connections (or channels) 703 and 704, respectively, each connection comprising a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0130] In this example, connections 703 and 704 are shown as 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 5G protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, multiple UEs 701 may directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 705. The ProSe interface 705 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface 705, and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0131] UE 701b is shown as being configured to access AP 706 (also referred to as "WLAN node 706", "WLAN 706", "WLAN terminal 706", "WT 706", etc.) via connection 707. Connection 707 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein AP 706 will include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 706 is shown connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 701b, RAN 710, and AP 706 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 701b in an RRC_CONNECTED state configured by RAN nodes 711a-b to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 701b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 707) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over connection 707. 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.

[0132] The RAN 710 may include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 711a and 711b (collectively referred to as "multiple RAN nodes 711" or "RAN node 711") that enable connections 703 and 704. 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 a RAN node 711 (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system 700, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to a RAN node 711 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 700. According to various embodiments, the plurality of RAN nodes 711 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 having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than macrocells.

[0133] In some embodiments, all or part of the multiple RAN nodes 711 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 splitting, such as PDCP splitting, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes 711; MAC / PHY splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes 711; or "lower PHY" splitting, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layer, and upper portions of the PHY layer are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while the lower portions of the PHY layer are operated by individual RAN nodes 711. The virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the multiple RAN nodes 711 to execute other virtualized applications. In some specific implementations, separate RAN nodes 711 may represent a single RAN node 711 connected to the network via a separate F1 interface ( Figure 7 In these embodiments, the gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., Fig.10), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 710 or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. In addition or alternatively, one or more of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a next generation eNB that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to multiple UEs 701 and is connected to the 5GC (e.g., via an NG interface (discussed below)). Fig. 9 CN 920) RAN node.

[0134] In a V2X scenario, one or more of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may be an RSU or act as an RSU. The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. 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 road side that provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE 701 (vUE 701). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing 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, etc. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low latency communications as well as other cellular communication services. In addition 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.

[0135] Any of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may serve as an endpoint for the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for multiple UEs 701. In some embodiments, any of the multiple RAN nodes 711 may perform various logical functions of the RAN 710, 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.

[0136] In an embodiment, multiple UEs 701 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of multiple RAN nodes 711 over a multi-carrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0137] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of a plurality of RAN nodes 711 to a plurality of UEs 701, 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.

[0138] According to various embodiments, multiple UEs 701 and multiple RAN nodes 711 communicate data (e.g., send data and receive data) through a licensed medium (also referred to as a "licensed spectrum" and / or a "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as an "unlicensed spectrum" and / or an "unlicensed 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 band.

[0139] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the plurality of UEs 701 and the plurality of RAN nodes 711 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, the plurality of UEs 701 and the plurality of RAN nodes 711 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 prior to transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed in accordance with a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0140] LBT is a mechanism by which equipment (e.g., multiple UEs 701, multiple RAN nodes 711, etc.) senses a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include a CCA that utilizes at least an ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an expected transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0141] 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 701, AP 706, 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 (ms); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0142] 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.

[0143] 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 called 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 701 to undergo switching. 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.

[0144] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to multiple UEs 701. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It can also inform multiple UEs 701 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 UEs 701b within a cell) can be performed on any of the multiple RAN nodes 711 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the multiple UEs 701. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the multiple UEs 701.

[0145] 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).

[0146] 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.

[0147] The plurality of RAN nodes 711 may be configured to communicate with each other via the interface 712. In an embodiment where the system 700 is an LTE system (eg, when the CN 720 is Figure 8 820 in the EPC 720), the interface 712 may be an X2 interface 712. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 711 (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC 720, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC 720. 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 in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from the SeNB to the UE 701 for user data; information about PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 701; information about the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C can provide intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transmission control, etc.; load management functions; and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0148] In an embodiment where system 700 is a 5G or NR system (e.g., when CN 720 is Fig. 9), the interface 712 may be an Xn interface 712. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 711 (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 720, between a RAN node 711 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to the 5GC 720, and / or between two eNBs connected to the 5GC 720. In some specific implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functions. Xn-C may provide management and error handling functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 701 in connected mode (e.g., CM connection) includes functions for managing UE mobility in connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 711. The mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 711 to the new (target) serving RAN node 711; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 711 and the new (target) serving RAN node 711. 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.

[0149] RAN 710 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network—in this embodiment, communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 720. CN 720 may include a plurality of network elements 722 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / users (e.g., users of a plurality of UEs 701) connected to CN 720 via RAN 710. The components of CN 720 may be implemented in one physical node or in 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 720 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 720 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.

[0150] Generally speaking, the application server 730 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 730 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 multiple UEs 701 via the EPC 720.

[0151] In an embodiment, CN 720 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC 720" or the like), and RAN 710 may be connected to CN 720 via an NG interface 713. In an embodiment, NG interface 713 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 714, which carries traffic data between RAN node 711 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 715, which is a signaling interface between multiple RAN nodes 711 and multiple AMFs. Fig. 9 Discussed in more detail, CN 720 is an implementation of 5GC 720.

[0152] In an embodiment, CN 720 may be a 5G CN (referred to as "5GC 720", etc.), while in other embodiments, CN 720 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 720 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC 720", etc.), RAN 710 may be connected to CN 720 via an S1 interface 713. In an embodiment, S1 interface 713 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 714, which carries traffic data between RAN node 711 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 715, which is a signaling interface between multiple RAN nodes 711 and multiple MMEs.

[0153] Figure 8 FIG. 8 shows an exemplary architecture of a system 800 including a first CN 820 according to various embodiments. In this example, the system 800 may implement the LTE standard, where the CN 820 is a Figure 7 In addition, UE 801 can communicate with Figure 7 UE 701 is the same as or similar to UE 701, and E-UTRAN 810 may be Figure 7 The E-UTRAN may be a RAN that is the same as or similar to the RAN 710 of the E-UTRAN, and the E-UTRAN may include the RAN node 711 discussed previously. The CN 820 may include an MME 821, an S-GW 822, a P-GW 823, an HSS 824, and an SGSN 825.

[0154] The MME 821 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional SGSN, and may implement MM functions to keep track of the current location of the UE 801. The MME 821 may perform various MM procedures to manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also referred to as "EPS MM" or "EMM" in an E-UTRAN system) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data stores, etc. for maintaining knowledge of the current location of the UE 801, providing user identity confidentiality to users / subscribers, and / or performing other similar services. Each UE 801 and the MME 821 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and when the attachment procedure is successfully completed, an MM context may be established in the UE 801 and the MME 821. The MM context may be a data structure or database object that stores MM-related information of the UE 801. The MME 821 may be coupled to the HSS 824 via an S6a reference point, to the SGSN 825 via an S3 reference point, and to the S-GW 822 via an S11 reference point.

[0155] SGSN 825 may be a node that serves UE 801 by tracking the location of individual UE 801 and performing security functions. In addition, SGSN 825 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 821; handling of UE 801 time zone functions, as specified by MME 821; and MME selection for handover to E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between MME 821 and SGSN 825 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in an idle state and / or an active state.

[0156] The HSS 824 may include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entities in handling communication sessions. The EPC 820 may include one or several HSSs 824, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 824 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing solutions, location dependencies, etc. The S6a reference point between the HSS 824 and the MME 821 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing users to access the EPC 820 between the HSS 824 and the MME 821.

[0157] The S-GW 822 may terminate the S1 interface 713 ( Figure 8 The S-GW 822 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies. The S11 reference point between the S-GW 822 and the MME 821 may provide a control plane between the MME 821 and the S-GW 822. The S-GW 822 may be coupled to the P-GW 823 via the S5 reference point.

[0158] The P-GW 823 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN 830. The P-GW 823 may communicate with the PDN 830 via the IP interface 725 (see, e.g. Figure 7 ) routes data packets between EPC 820 and external networks such as a network including application server 730 (alternatively referred to as "AF"). In an embodiment, P-GW 823 can communicate with the network via IP communication interface 725 (see, e.g., Figure 7 ) is communicatively coupled to an application server ( Figure 7 Application server 730 or Figure 8The S5 reference point between the P-GW 823 and the S-GW 822 may provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the P-GW 823 and the S-GW 822. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 822 relocation due to the mobility of the UE 801 and whether the S-GW 822 needs to be connected to a non-colocated P-GW 823 for the required PDN connectivity. The P-GW 823 may also include nodes for policy implementation and charging data collection, such as a PCEF (not shown). In addition, the SGi reference point between the P-GW 823 and the packet data network (PDN) 830 may be an operator-external public, private PDN, or an internal operator packet data network, such as for providing IMS services. The P-GW 823 may be coupled to the PCRF 826 via a Gx reference point.

[0159] PCRF 826 is a policy and charging control element of EPC 820. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 826 in a domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE 801. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of UE 801: a domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). PCRF 826 may be communicatively coupled to application server 830 via P-GW 823. Application server 830 may signal PCRF 826 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate QoS and charging parameters. PCRF 826 may configure the rule to a PCEF (not shown) with the appropriate TFT and QCI, which starts QoS and charging as specified by application server 830. The Gx reference point between PCRF 826 and P-GW 823 may allow for the transfer of QoS policies and charging rules from PCRF 826 to PCEF in P-GW 823. The Rx reference point may reside between PDN 830 (or "AF 830") and PCRF 826.

[0160] Fig. 9The architecture of a system 900 including a second CN 920 according to various embodiments is shown. The system 900 is shown to include a UE 901, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed UE 701 and UE 801; an (R) AN 910, which may be the same or similar to the previously discussed RAN 710 and RAN 810, and which may include the previously discussed RAN node 711; and a DN 903, which may be, for example, an operator service, Internet access, or a 3rd party service; and a 5GC 920. The 5GC 920 may include an AUSF 922; an AMF 921; an SMF 924; an NEF 923; a PCF 926; an NRF 925; an UDM 927; an AF 928; an UPF 902; and an NSSF 929.

[0161] The UPF 902 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with the DN 903, and a branch point to support multi-host PDU sessions. The UPF 902 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane portion of the policy rules, lawful interception of packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement) on the user plane, perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 902 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic to the data network. The DN 903 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The DN 903 may include or be similar to the application server 730 discussed previously. The UPF 902 may interact with the SMF 924 via the N4 reference point between the SMF 924 and the UPF 902.

[0162] The AUSF 922 may store data for authentication of the UE 901 and process authentication-related functions. The AUSF 922 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. The AUSF 922 may communicate with the AMF 921 via the N12 reference point between the AMF 921 and the AUSF 922; and may communicate with the UDM 927 via the N13 reference point between the UDM 927 and the AUSF 922. In addition, the AUSF 922 may present an interface based on the Nausf service.

[0163] AMF 921 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering UE 901, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. AMF 921 may be the termination point of the N11 reference point between AMF 921 and SMF 924. AMF 921 may provide transport for SM messages between UE 901 and SMF 924, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 921 may also provide a transport mechanism for UE 901 and SMSF ( Fig. 9 901). The AMF 921 may act as a SEAF, which may include interaction with the AUSF 922 and the UE 901, receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 901 authentication process. In the case of using USIM-based authentication, the AMF 921 may retrieve security material from the AUSF 922. The AMF 921 may also include an SCM function that receives keys from the SEA for deriving access network-specific keys. In addition, the AMF 921 may be a termination point for the RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the (R)AN 910 and the AMF 921; and the AMF 921 may be a termination point for NAS (N1) signaling, and perform NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0164] The AMF 921 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 901 over the N3 IWF interface. The N3 IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3 IWF may be the termination point for the N2 interface between the (R) AN 910 and the AMF 921 for the control plane, and may be the termination point for the N3 reference point between the (R) AN 910 and the UPF 902 for the user plane. Thus, the AMF 921 may process N2 signaling for PDU sessions and QoS from the SMF 924 and the AMF 921, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, mark N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to N3 packet markings, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such markings received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 901 and the AMF 921 via the N1 reference point between the UE 901 and the AMF 921, and relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 901 and the UPF 902. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 901. The AMF 921 may present an interface based on the Namf service, and may be an N14 reference point between the two AMF 921 and the AMF 921 and the 5G-EIR ( Fig. 9 The termination point of the N17 reference point between the two (not shown).

[0165] UE 901 may need to register with AMF 921 in order to receive network services. RM is used to register UE 901 with the network (e.g., AMF 921) or deregister UE, and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., AMF 921). UE 901 may operate in the RM-REGISTERED state or the RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM DEREGISTERED state, UE 901 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 921 does not maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 901, so AMF 921 cannot reach UE 901. In the RM REGISTERED state, UE 901 is registered with the network, and the UE context in AMF 921 may maintain the valid location or routing information of UE 901, so AMF 921 can reach UE 901. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE 901 can perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (for example, to notify the network that UE 901 is still active), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

[0166] The AMF 921 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 901, each RM context being associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context may be a data structure, a database object, etc., which indicates or stores, among other things, the registration status and periodic update timer for each access type. The AMF 921 may also store a 5GC MM context which may be the same or similar to the (E)MM context discussed previously. In various embodiments, the AMF 921 may store CE mode B restriction parameters for the UE 901 in an associated MM context or RM context. The AMF 921 may also derive values ​​from the UE's usage setting parameters already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context) when necessary.

[0167] The CM may be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 901 and the AMF 921 over the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 901 and the CN 920, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., an RRC connection or a UE-N3IWF connection for non-3GPP access) and an N2 connection of the UE 901 between the AN (e.g., the RAN 910) and the AMF 921. The UE 901 may operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 901 operates in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE 901 may not have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 921 over the N1 interface, and there may be a (R) AN 910 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 901. When the UE 901 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state / mode, the UE 901 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 921 through the N1 interface, and there may be a (R)AN 910 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connection) for the UE 901. Establishing an N2 connection between the (R)AN 910 and the AMF 921 may cause the UE 901 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when the N2 signaling between the (R)AN 910 and the AMF 921 is released, the UE 901 may transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

[0168] SMF 924 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, modification, and release, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP functions; configuring traffic steering of UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface toward the policy control function; control portion of policy enforcement and QoS; lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system); terminating the SM portion of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM information sent to AN via AMF over N2; and determining the SSC mode of the session. SM may refer to the management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or implements the exchange of PDUs between a UE 901 and a data network (DN) 903 identified by a data network name (DNN). The PDU session may be established upon request by UE 901, modified upon request by UE 901 and 5GC 920, and released upon request by UE 901 and 5GC 920 using NAS SM signaling exchanged between UE 901 and SMF 924 over the N1 reference point. Upon request from an application server, 5GC 920 may trigger a specific application in UE 901. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE 901 may deliver the trigger message (or relevant parts / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in UE 901. The identified application in UE 901 may establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF 924 may check whether the UE 901 request complies with user subscription information associated with UE 901. In this regard, SMF 924 may retrieve and / or request to receive update notifications about SMF 924 level subscription data from UDM 927.

[0169] The SMF 924 may include the following roaming functions: handling local execution to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN); charging data collection and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system, in VPLMN); and support interaction with external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization / authentication through external DN. In a roaming scenario, an N16 reference point between two SMFs 924 may be included in the system 900, which may be located between an SMF 924 in a visited network and another SMF 924 in a home network. In addition, the SMF 924 may present an interface based on Nsmf services.

[0170] NEF 923 may provide components for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 928), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, NEF 923 may authenticate, authorize and / or restrict AF. NEF 923 may also convert information exchanged with AF 928 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF 923 may convert between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 923 may also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on their exposure capabilities. This information may be stored at NEF 923 as structured data or at a data storage NF using a standardized interface. The stored information may then be re-exposed to other NFs and AFs by NEF 923 and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 923 may present an interface based on Nnef services.

[0171] NRF 925 may support service discovery functionality, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 925 also maintains information of available NF instances and the services they support. As used herein, the term "instantiation" and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during the execution of a program code. In addition, NRF 925 may present an interface based on Nnrf services.

[0172] The PCF 926 may provide for control plane functions to enforce their policy rules, and may also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF 926 may also implement a FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 927. The PCF 926 may communicate with the AMF 921 via the N15 reference point between the PCF 926 and the AMF 921, which may include the PCF 926 in the visited network and the AMF 921 in the case of a roaming scenario. The PCF 926 may communicate with the AF 928 via the N5 reference point between the PCF 926 and the AF 928; and communicate with the SMF 924 via the N7 reference point between the PCF 926 and the SMF 924. The system 900 and / or the CN 920 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF 926 (in the home network) and the PCF 926 in the visited network. In addition, the PCF 926 may present an interface based on Npcf services.

[0173] The UDM 927 may process subscription-related information to support the processing of communication sessions by network entities, and may store subscription data of the UE 901. For example, the subscription data may be transmitted between the UDM 927 and the AMF 921 via the N8 reference point between the UDM 927 and the AMF. The UDM 927 may include two parts: an application FE and a UDR ( Fig. 9 FE and UDR are not shown). UDR can store subscription data and policy data of UDM 927 and PCF 926, and / or structured data for exposure and application data of NEF 923 (including PFD for application detection, application request information of multiple UE 901). Nudr service-based interface can be presented by UDR 221 to allow UDM 927, PCF 926 and NEF 923 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete and subscribe to notifications of related data changes in UDR. UDM may include UDM-FE, which is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, etc. In different transactions, several different front ends may serve the same user. UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in UDR, and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration / mobility management and subscription management. UDR can interact with SMF 924 via the N10 reference point between UDM 927 and SMF 924. UDM 927 may also support SMS management, where SMS-FE implements similar application logic as described above. In addition, UDM 927 may present an interface based on Nudm services.

[0174] AF 928 can provide the influence of applications on traffic routing, provide access to NCE, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. NCE can be a mechanism that allows 5GC 920 and AF 928 to provide information to each other via NEF 923, which can be used for edge computing implementation. In such implementations, network operators and third-party services can be hosted near the UE 901 access point of the attachment to achieve effective service delivery through reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transmission network. For edge computing implementation, 5GC can select UPF 902 near UE 901 and perform traffic steering from UPF 902 to DN 903 via N6 interface. This can be based on UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by AF 928. In this way, AF 928 can affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 928 is considered a trusted entity, the network operator can allow AF 928 to interact directly with the relevant NF. In addition, AF 928 can present an interface based on Naf services.

[0175] The NSSF 929 may select a set of network slice instances to serve the UE 901. If necessary, the NSSF 929 may also determine the allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAI. The NSSF 929 may also determine the AMF set, or a list of candidate AMFs 921, to serve the UE 901 based on appropriate configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 925. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 901 may be triggered by the AMF 921, where the UE 901 registers by interacting with the NSSF 929, which may cause the AMF 921 to change. The NSSF 929 may interact with the AMF 921 via the N22 reference point between the AMF 921 and the NSSF 929; and may communicate with the AMF 921 via the N31 reference point ( Fig. 9 The NSSF 929 may communicate with another NSSF 929 in the visited network (not shown). In addition, the NSSF 929 may present an interface based on the Nnssf service.

[0176] As discussed previously, CN 920 may include SMSF, which may be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification, and relaying SM messages from / to other entities, such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers, to / from UE 901. SMS may also interact with AMF 921 and UDM 927 for notification procedures that UE 901 is available for SMS transmission (e.g., setting a UE unreachable flag and notifying UDM 927 when UE 901 is available for SMS).

[0177] CN 120 may also include Fig. 9 Other elements not shown, such as data storage system / architecture, 5G-EIR, SEPP, etc. The data storage system may include SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF may communicate with any NF and UDSF ( Fig. 9 The N18 reference point between the NF and the NF (not shown) stores or retrieves unstructured data in or from the UDSF (e.g., UE context). Individual NFs may share a UDSF for storing their respective unstructured data, or individual NFs may each have their own UDSF located at or near a single NF. In addition, the UDSF may present an interface based on the Nudsf service ( Fig. 9 (not shown). The 5G-EIR may be a NF that checks the status of the PEI to determine whether to blacklist a specific equipment / entity from the network; and the SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the inter-PLMN control plane interface.

[0178] Additionally, there may be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between NF services in a NF; however, for clarity, Fig. 9These interfaces and reference points are omitted. In one embodiment, CN 920 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between an MME (e.g., MME 821) and an AMF 921, so as to achieve intercommunication between CN 920 and CN 820. Other example interfaces / reference points may include an interface based on N5g-EIR services presented by 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between an NRF in a visited network and an NRF in a home network; and an N31 reference point between an NSSF in a visited network and an NSSF in a home network.

[0179] Fig.10 An example of infrastructure equipment 1000 according to various embodiments is shown. Infrastructure equipment 1000 (or "system 1000") can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node (such as the RAN node 711 and / or AP 706 shown and described previously), an application server 730, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, system 1000 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0180] System 1000 includes: application circuit 1005, baseband circuit 1010, one or more radio front end modules (RFEM) 1015, memory circuit 1020, power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1025, power tee circuit 1030, network controller circuit 1035, network interface connector 1040, satellite positioning circuit 1045 and user interface 1050. In some embodiments, device 1000 may include additional elements, such as memory / storage, display, camera, sensor or input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, these components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuit may be included separately in more than one device for CRAN, vBBU or other similar implementations.

[0181] The application circuit 1005 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I2C or a general programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, a general input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar product, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface, and a joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1005 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 1000. In some implementations, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit that can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0182] The processor of the application circuit 1005 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1005 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1005 may include one or more Apple A series processors, Intel or Processor: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or processors; ARM-based processors licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium(TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPSWarrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, system 1000 may not utilize application circuit 1005, and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0183] In some implementations, the application circuit 1005 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like; programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs, and the like; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 1005 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such an embodiment, the circuitry of application circuit 1005 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc. in a look-up table (LUT), etc.

[0184] The baseband circuit 1010 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Fig.12 Various hardware electronic components of baseband circuit 1010 are discussed.

[0185] The user interface circuit 1050 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system 1000 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the system 1000. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0186] The radio front end module (RFEM) 1015 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Fig.12 The antenna array 1211 is a connector and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative implementation, both millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1015 incorporating both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0187] The memory circuit 1020 may include one or more of the following: a volatile memory including a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a non-volatile memory (NVM) including a high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as a "flash memory"), a phase change random access memory (PRAM), a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with a memory device obtained from and The memory circuit 1020 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0188] The PMIC 1025 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition. The power tee circuit 1030 may provide power extracted from a network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure equipment 1000 using a single cable.

[0189] The network controller circuit 1035 may provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on a GRE tunnel, Ethernet based on a multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. A physical connection may be used to provide a network connection to / from the infrastructure equipment 1000 via a network interface connector 1040, which may be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 1035 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 1035 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0190] The positioning circuit 1045 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by a positioning network of a global satellite navigation system (or GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS), etc. for navigation), etc. The positioning circuit 1045 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communications) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1045 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1045 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1010 and / or RFEM 1015 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1045 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 1005, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructures (e.g., RAN node 711, etc.), etc.

[0191] Fig.10 The components shown can communicate with each other using interface circuits that can include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as industry standard architecture (ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI), peripheral component interconnect extended (PCIx), PCI express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX can be a proprietary bus, for example, used in a SoC-based system. Other bus / IX systems can be included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, a point-to-point interface, and a power bus, etc.

[0192] Fig.11 An example of a platform 1100 (or "device 1100") according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 1100 may be suitable for use as a UE 701, 801, 901, an application server 730, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 1100 may include any combination of components shown in the example. The components of the platform 1100 may be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC), part of an IC, a discrete electronic device, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof adapted in the computer platform 1100, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system. Fig.11 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 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.

[0193] The application circuit 1105 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of an LDO, an interrupt controller, a serial interface (such as SPI), I2C or a general programmable serial interface module, an RTC, a timer (including an interval timer and a watchdog timer), a general I / O, a memory card controller (such as an SD MMC or similar controller), a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1105 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 1100. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0194] The processor of the application circuit 1005 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multi-threaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1005 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0195] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 1105 may include an Apple A series processor. The processor of the application circuit 1105 may also be one or more of the following: based on Architecture Core TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU-class processors, or can be purchased from Another such processor is Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) from Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA. Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc. TM Processor, Texas Instruments, OpenMultimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 1105 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 1105 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit.

[0196] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 1105 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), etc.; ASICs such as structured ASICs, etc.; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); etc. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1105 may include logic blocks or logic structures, and other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions such as the processes, methods, functions, etc. of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuits of the application circuit 1105 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc.

[0197] The baseband circuit 1110 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Fig.12 The various hardware electronic components of the baseband circuit 1110 are discussed.

[0198] The RFEM 1115 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separated from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., below). Fig.12 The antenna array 1211 of the embodiment of the present invention can be connected to the RFEM and the RFEM can be connected to multiple antennas. In an alternative embodiment, both the millimeter wave and sub-millimeter wave radio functions can be implemented in the same physical RFEM 1115 incorporating both millimeter wave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0199] The memory circuit 1120 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a quantitative system memory. For example, the memory circuit 1120 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 1120 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) based low power double data rate (LPDDR) design such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1120 may be implemented as one or more of a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) including a micro DIMM or a mini DIMM, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 1120 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with the application circuit 1105. In order to provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 1120 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1100 may be combined with a computer system obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0200] Removable memory circuitry 1123 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 1100. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage, and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0201] The platform 1100 may further include an interface circuit (not shown) for connecting external devices to the platform 1100. External devices connected to the platform 1100 via the interface circuit include a sensor circuit 1121 and an electromechanical component (EMC) 1122, and a removable memory device coupled to a removable memory circuit 1123.

[0202] Sensor circuitry 1121 comprises a device, module, or subsystem that is intended to detect events or changes in its environment, and to send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0203] The EMC 1122 includes devices, modules or subsystems that are intended to enable the platform 1100 to change its state, position and / or orientation or to move or control a mechanism or (sub) system. In addition, the EMC 1122 may be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 1100 to indicate the current state of the EMC 1122. The EMC 1122 includes one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 1100 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 1122 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from a service provider and / or various clients.

[0204] In some specific implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1100 to the positioning circuit 1145. The positioning circuit 1145 includes a circuit for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the GPS of the United States, the GLONASS of Russia, the Galileo system of the European Union, the Beidou navigation satellite system of China, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS of Japan, DORIS of France, etc.), etc. The positioning circuit 1145 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1145 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 1145 may also be part of the baseband circuit 1010 and / or the RFEM 1115 or interact with it to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 1145 may also provide position data and / or time data to application circuitry 1105 , which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (eg, radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

[0205] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1100 with a near field communication (NFC) circuit 1140. The NFC circuit 1140 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, wherein magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 1140 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touch point") external to the platform 1100. The NFC circuit 1140 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 1140 by executing an NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit a short-range RF signal. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuit 1140, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuit 1140 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) proximate to the platform 1100.

[0206] The driver circuit 1146 may include software and hardware elements for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 1100. The driver circuit 1146 may include various drivers to allow other components of the platform 1100 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the platform 1100. For example, the driver circuit 1146 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface of the platform 1100, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings of the sensor circuit 1121 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1121, an EMC driver for obtaining an actuator position of the EMC 1122 and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 1122, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0207] A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1125 (also referred to as “power management circuit 1125”) may manage power provided to various components of the platform 1100. Specifically, the PMIC 1125 may control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion relative to the baseband circuit 1110. When the platform 1100 is capable of being powered by a battery 1130, for example, when the device is included in a UE 701, 801, 901, a PMIC 1125 may be generally included.

[0208] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1125 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the platform 1100. For example, if the platform 1100 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which the platform is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, then after a period of inactivity, the platform may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 1100 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 1100 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. are performed. The platform 1100 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device wakes up again periodically to listen to the network and then powers off again. The platform 1100 may not receive data in this state; in order to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power saving modes may prevent the device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0209] The battery 1130 can power the platform 1100, but in some examples, the platform 1100 can be mounted in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 1130 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 1130 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0210] In some implementations, the battery 1130 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 1100 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 1130. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1130, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 1130 to provide fault prediction. The BMS may transmit information about the battery 1130 to the application circuit 1105 or other components of the platform 1100. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1105 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1130 or the current from the battery 1130. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that the platform 1100 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0211] A power block or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1130. In some examples, the power block XS30 can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to obtain power wirelessly, for example, through a loop antenna in the computer platform 1100. In these examples, a wireless battery charging circuit can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 1130 and therefore the current required. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Alliance.

[0212] The user interface circuit 1150 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present in or connected to the platform 1100, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 1100 and / or a peripheral component interface designed to implement interaction with the peripheral components of the platform 1100. The user interface circuit 1150 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, including, in particular, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where outputs of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. are generated or produced by the operation of the platform 1100. The output device circuitry may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printers, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor circuitry 1121 may be used as an input device circuitry (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuitry (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0213] Although not shown, the components of platform 1100 can communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which can include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, time-triggered protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX can be a proprietary bus / IX, for example, used in a SoC-based system. Other bus / IX systems can be included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, a point-to-point interface, and a power bus, etc.

[0214] Fig.12 1 shows exemplary components of a baseband circuit 1210 and a radio front end module (RFEM) 1215 according to various embodiments. The baseband circuit 1210 corresponds to Fig.10 The baseband circuit 1010 and Fig.11 Baseband circuit 1110. RFEM1215 corresponds to Fig.10 RFEM 1015 and Fig.11 RFEM 1115. As shown, RFEM 1215 may include radio frequency (RF) circuit 1206, front end module (FEM) circuit 1208, and antenna array 1211 coupled together at least as shown.

[0215] The baseband circuit 1210 includes circuits and / or control logic components configured to execute various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 1206. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuit of the baseband circuit 1210 may include a fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping function. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuit of the baseband circuit 1210 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. The baseband circuit 1210 is configured to process the baseband signal received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 and generate a baseband signal for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206. The baseband circuit 1210 is configured to communicate with the application circuit 1005 / 1105 (see Fig.10 and Fig.11 ) to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of RF circuit 1206. Baseband circuit 1210 may handle various radio control functions.

[0216] The aforementioned circuits and / or control logic components of the baseband circuit 1210 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 1204A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 1204B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 1204C, or some other baseband processors 1204D for other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., the sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-D may be included in a module stored in the memory 1204G and may be executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 1204E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-D may be provided as a hardware accelerator (e.g., FPGA, ASIC, etc.) loaded with appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in corresponding memory units. In various embodiments, the memory 1204G may store program code of a real-time OS (RTOS), which, when executed by the CPU 1204E (or other baseband processor), will enable the CPU 1204E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources of the baseband circuit 1210, schedule tasks, etc. Examples of RTOS may include: Operating System Embedded (OSE) provided TM , by Mentor Nucleus RTOS provided TM , by Mentor Versatile Real-TimeExecutive (VRTX) provided by Express Provided by ThreadX TM ,Depend on FreeRTOS and REXOS provided by Open Kernel (OK) OKL4 is provided, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the baseband circuit 1210 includes one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1204F. The audio DSP 1204F includes elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

[0217] In some embodiments, each of processors 1204A-1204E includes a corresponding memory interface to send data to / receive data from memory 1204G. Baseband circuit 1210 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuits / devices, such as an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to baseband circuit 1210; an interface for sending data to / receiving data from a memory external to the baseband circuit; Figure 10 to Figure 11 An application circuit interface for sending data to / receiving data from the application circuit 1005 / 1105; Fig.12 RF circuit 1206 to send data / receive data from the RF circuit RF circuit interface; for receiving data from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., near field communication (NFC) components, Low power consumption components, components, etc.) to send data / receive data from these wireless hardware elements; and a power management interface for sending power or control signals to / receiving power or control signals from the PMIC 1125.

[0218] In an alternative embodiment (which can be combined with the above embodiment), the baseband circuit 1210 includes one or more digital baseband systems, which are coupled to each other and to the CPU subsystem, the audio subsystem and the interface subsystem via an interconnection subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem can also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed signal baseband subsystem via another interconnection subsystem. Each of the interconnection subsystems may include a bus system, a point-to-point connector, a network on chip (NOC) structure and / or some other suitable bus or interconnection technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include a DSP circuit, a buffer memory, a program memory, a voice processing accelerator circuit, a data converter circuit such as an analog-to-digital converter circuit and a digital-to-analog converter circuit, an analog circuit including one or more of an amplifier and a filter, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the baseband circuit 1210 may include a protocol processing circuit with one or more control circuit instances (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or the radio frequency circuit (e.g., the radio front end module 1215).

[0219] although Fig.12Not shown, but in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1210 includes various processing devices (e.g., a "multi-protocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuit") to operate one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices to implement PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuit operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, when the baseband circuit 1210 and / or the RF circuit 1206 are part of a millimeter wave communication circuit or some other suitable cellular communication circuit, the protocol processing circuit may operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities. In a first example, the protocol processing circuit will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In a second example, when the baseband circuit 1210 and / or the RF circuit 1206 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system, the protocol processing circuit may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols. In a second example, the protocol processing circuit will operate Wi-Fi MAC and logical link control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 1204G) for storing program code and data for operating protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing program code and performing various operations using data. The baseband circuitry 1210 may also support radio communications for more than one wireless protocol.

[0220] The various hardware elements of the baseband circuit 1210 discussed herein may be implemented as, for example, a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one example, the components of the baseband circuit 1210 may be appropriately combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the RF circuit 1206 may be implemented together, such as a system on a chip (SOC) or a system-in-package (SiP). In another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled to the RF circuit 1206 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 1206). In yet another example, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the application circuit 1005 / 1105 may be implemented together as a separate SoC mounted to the same circuit board (e.g., a "multi-chip package").

[0221] In some embodiments, baseband circuit 1210 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuit 1210 may support communications with E-UTRAN or other WMAN, WLAN, WPAN. Embodiments in which baseband circuit 1210 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0222] RF circuit 1206 may enable communication with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 1206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 1206 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuit 1208 and providing baseband signals to baseband circuit 1210. RF circuit 1206 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuit 1210 and providing an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuit 1208.

[0223] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a mixer circuit 1206a, an amplifier circuit 1206b, and a filter circuit 1206c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a filter circuit 1206c and a mixer circuit 1206a. The RF circuit 1206 may also include a synthesizer circuit 1206d for synthesizing the frequencies used by the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 1206d. The amplifier circuit 1206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1206c 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 1210 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required.In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0224] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 1206d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 1208. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuit 1210 and may be filtered by filter circuit 1206c.

[0225] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and quadrature up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a 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 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 1206a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0226] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuit 1206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuits, and baseband circuit 1210 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuit 1206.

[0227] 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.

[0228] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1206d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 1206d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0229] Synthesizer circuit 1206d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by mixer circuit 1206a of RF circuit 1206. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 1206d may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0230] 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 the baseband circuit 1210 or the application circuit 1005 / 1105 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 the application circuit 1005 / 1105.

[0231] The synthesizer circuit 1206d of the RF circuit 1206 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0232] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 1206d 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 1206 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0233] FEM circuitry 1208 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antenna array 1211, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to RF circuitry 1206 for further processing. FEM circuitry 1208 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by RF circuitry 1206 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 1211. In various embodiments, amplification by the transmit or receive signal path may be accomplished only in RF circuitry 1206, only in FEM circuitry 1208, or in both RF circuitry 1206 and FEM circuitry 1208.

[0234] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1208 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 1208 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 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 1206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1206), and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1211.

[0235] The antenna array 1211 includes one or more antenna elements, each of which is configured to convert an electrical signal into a radio wave to travel through the air and convert the received radio wave into an electrical signal. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 1210 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform), which is amplified and transmitted via the antenna elements of the antenna array 1211 including one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formed into a variety of arrangements as known and / or discussed herein. The antenna array 1211 may include a microstrip antenna or a printed antenna fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 1211 may be formed as a patch of metal foil of various shapes (e.g., a patch antenna) and may be coupled to the RF circuit 1206 and / or the FEM circuit 1208 using a metal transmission line or the like.

[0236] The processor of the application circuit 1005 / 1105 and the processor of the baseband circuit 1210 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 1210 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 1005 / 1105 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a PHY layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0237] Fig.13 Various protocol functions that can be implemented in a wireless communication device according to various embodiments are shown. Specifically, Fig.13An arrangement 1300 is included to show the interconnection between various protocol layers / entities. Various protocol layers / entities operating in conjunction with 5G / NR system standards and LTE system standards are provided. Fig.13 The following description, but Fig.13 Some or all aspects of the invention may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0238] In addition to other higher layer functions not shown, the protocol layers of arrangement 1300 may also include one or more of PHY 1310, MAC 1320, RLC 1330, PDCP 1340, SDAP 1347, RRC 1355, and NAS layer 1357. These protocol layers may include one or more service access points (e.g., Fig.13 Items 1359, 1356, 1350, 1349, 1345, 1335, 1325 and 1315).

[0239] PHY 1310 can transmit and receive physical layer signals 1305, which can be received or transmitted from one or more other communication devices to one or more other communication devices. Physical layer signals 1305 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. PHY 1310 may also perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and switching purposes) and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC1355). PHY 1310 may also further perform error detection on transmission channels, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of transmission channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels and MIMO antenna processing. In an embodiment, an instance of PHY 1310 may process a request from an instance of MAC1320 via one or more PHY-SAP 1315 and provide an indication thereto. According to some embodiments, the request and indication transmitted via PHY-SAP 1315 may include one or more transmission channels.

[0240] An instance of MAC 1320 may process requests from and provide indications to an instance of RLC 1330 via one or more MAC-SAPs 1325. These requests and indications transmitted via MAC-SAP 1325 may include one or more logical channels. MAC 1320 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY 1310 via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs delivered from PHY 1310 via transport channels to one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0241] An instance of RLC 1330 may process requests from and provide indications to an instance of PDCP 1340 via one or more radio link control service access points (RLC-SAPs) 1335. These requests and indications transmitted via RLC-SAPs 1335 may include one or more logical channels. RLC 1330 may operate in a variety of operating modes, including: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). RLC 1330 may perform transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. RLC 1330 may also perform resegmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0242] An instance of PDCP 1340 may process requests from an instance of RRC 1355 and / or an instance of SDAP 1347 via one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Points (PDCP-SAP) 1345 and provide indications thereto. These requests and indications transmitted via PDCP-SAP 1345 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 1340 may perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform in-order delivery of upper layer PDUs when lower layers are reestablished, eliminate duplication of lower layer SDUs when lower layers are reestablished for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0243] An instance of SDAP 1347 may process requests from one or more higher layer protocol entities and provide indications thereto via one or more SDAP-SAPs 1349. These requests and indications transmitted via SDAP-SAPs 1349 may include one or more QoS flows. SDAP 1347 may map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and may also mark QFIs in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 1347 may be configured for a separate PDU session. In the UL direction, NG-RAN 710 may control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (reflective mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, SDAP 1347 of UE 701 may monitor the QFI of the DL packets of each DRB, and may apply the same mapping to packets flowing in the UL direction. For DRBs, SDAP 1347 of UE 701 may map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of the DRB. To implement the reflective mapping, the NG-RAN 910 may mark the DL packets with a QoS flow ID over the Uu interface. The explicit mapping may involve the RRC 1355 configuring the SDAP 1347 with explicit mapping rules of QoS flows to DRBs, which may be stored and followed by the SDAP 1347. In an embodiment, the SDAP 1347 may be used only in NR implementations and may not be used in LTE implementations.

[0244] The RRC 1355 may configure aspects of one or more protocol layers, which may include one or more instances of PHY 1310, MAC 1320, RLC 1330, PDCP 1340, and SDAP 1347, via one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs). In an embodiment, an instance of the RRC 1355 may process requests from one or more NAS entities 1357 and provide instructions thereto via one or more RRC-SAPs 1356. The main services and functions of the RRC 1355 may include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in a MIB or SIB related to NAS), broadcasting of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance, and release of an RRC connection between the UE 701 and the RAN 710 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. These MIBs and SIBs may include one or more IEs, each of which may include a separate data field or data structure.

[0245] NAS 1357 may form the highest layer of the control plane between UE 701 and AMF 921. NAS 1357 may support the mobility and session management procedures of UE 701 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 701 and P-GW in the LTE system.

[0246] According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities of the arrangement 1300 may be implemented in the UE 701, the RAN node 711, the AMF 921 in the NR implementation or the MME 821 in the LTE implementation, the UPF 902 in the NR implementation or the S-GW 822 and the P-GW 823 in the LTE implementation, etc., for control plane or user plane communication protocol stacks between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of the UE 701, the gNB 711, the AMF 921, etc. may communicate with corresponding peer protocol entities that may be implemented in or on another device (using services of corresponding lower layer protocol entities to perform such communication). In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of gNB 711 may host the RRC 1355, SDAP 1347, and PDCP 1340 of the gNB that control the operation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of gNB 711 may each host the RLC 1330, MAC 1320, and PHY 1310 of gNB 711.

[0247] In a first example, the control plane protocol stack may include, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer, NAS 1357, RRC 1355, PDCP 1340, RLC 1330, MAC 1320, and PHY 1310. In this example, an upper layer 1360 may be built on top of NAS 1357, which includes an IP layer 1361, SCTP 1362, and an application layer signaling protocol (AP) 1363.

[0248] In a NR specific implementation, AP 1363 can be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1363 for the NG interface 713 defined between the NG-RAN node 711 and the AMF 921, or AP 1363 can be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1363 for the Xn interface 712 defined between two or more RAN nodes 711.

[0249] The NG-AP 1363 may support the functionality of the NG interface 713 and may include an elementary procedure (EP). The NG-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the NG-RAN node 711 and the AMF 921. The NG-AP 1363 services may include two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the UE 701) and non-UE-associated services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between the NG-RAN node 711 and the AMF 921). These services may include functions including, but not limited to: a paging function for sending a paging request to the NG-RAN node 711 involved in a specific paging area; a UE context management function for allowing the AMF 921 to establish, modify and / or release the UE context in the AMF 921 and the NG-RAN node 711; a mobility function for the UE 701 in ECM-CONNECTED mode, for intra-system HO to support mobility within the NG-RAN, and for inter-system HO to support mobility from / to the EPS system; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 701 and the AMF 921; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 921 and the UE 701; an NG interface management function for setting up the NG interface and monitoring errors through the NG interface; a warning message sending function for providing a means to transmit a warning message via the NG interface or to cancel an ongoing warning message broadcast; a NAS signaling transport function for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 701 and the AMF 921; a NAS node selection function for determining the association between the AMF 921 and the UE 701; a ... 720 is a configuration transmission function for requesting and transmitting RAN configuration information (eg, SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 711; and / or other similar functions.

[0250] The XnAP 1363 may support the functions of the Xn interface 712 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. The XnAP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the NG RAN 711 (or E-UTRAN 810), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, procedures related to dual connectivity, etc. The XnAP global procedures may include procedures unrelated to a specific UE 701, such as Xn interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, cell activation procedures, etc.

[0251] In an LTE specific implementation, AP 1363 may be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1363 for an S1 interface 713 defined between an E-UTRAN node 711 and an MME, or AP 1363 may be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1363 for an X2 interface 712 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 711.

[0252] The S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1363 may support the functionality of the S1 interface, and similar to the NG-AP discussed previously, the S1-AP may include an S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the E-UTRAN node 711 and the MME 821 within the LTE CN 720. The S1-AP 1363 services may include two groups: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. The functions performed by these services include, but are not limited to: E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transmission.

[0253] The X2AP 1363 may support the functions of the X2 interface 712 and may include an X2AP basic mobility procedure and an X2AP global procedure. The X2AP basic mobility procedure may include a procedure for handling UE mobility within the E-UTRAN 720, such as a handover preparation and cancellation procedure, an SN state transfer procedure, a UE context retrieval and a UE context release procedure, a RAN paging procedure, a procedure related to dual connectivity, etc. The X2AP global procedure may include a procedure that is not related to a specific UE 701, such as an X2 interface setup and reset procedure, a load indication procedure, an error indication procedure, a cell activation procedure, etc.

[0254] The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP / IP layer) 1362 may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). The SCTP 1362 may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 711 and the AMF 921 / MME 821 based in part on the IP protocol supported by the IP 1361. The Internet Protocol layer (IP) 1361 may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, the IP layer 1361 may deliver and transmit PDUs using point-to-point transport. In this regard, the RAN node 711 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF to exchange information.

[0255] In a second example, the user plane protocol stack may include SDAP 1347, PDCP 1340, RLC 1330, MAC 1320, and PHY 1310 in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer. The user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between UE 701, RAN node 711, and UPF 902 in NR implementation, or communication between S-GW 822 and P-GW 823 in LTE implementation. In this example, the upper layer 1351 may be built on top of SDAP 1347 and may include a user datagram protocol (UDP) and IP security layer (UDP / IP) 1352, a general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for a user plane layer (GTP-U) 1353, and a user plane PDU layer (UP PDU) 1363.

[0256] The transport network layer 1354 (also referred to as the "transport layer") may be built on top of the IP transport, and the GTP-U 1353 may be used on top of the UDP / IP layer 1352 (including the UDP layer and the IP layer) to carry the user plane PDU (UP-PDU). The IP layer (also referred to as the "Internet layer") may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packets, for example, in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats.

[0257] GTP-U 1353 may be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. For example, the transmitted user data may be packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. UDP / IP 1352 may provide checksums for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication of selected data flows. The RAN node 711 and the S-GW 822 may utilize the S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer (e.g., PHY 1310), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 1320, RLC 1330, PDCP 1340, and / or SDAP 1347), a UDP / IP layer 1352, and GTP-U 1353. S-GW 822 and P-GW 823 may utilize an S5 / S8a interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer, an L2 layer, a UDP / IP layer 1352, and a GTP-U 1353. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol may support the mobility and session management procedures of UE 701 to establish and maintain an IP connection between UE 701 and P-GW 823.

[0258] In addition, despite Fig.13Not shown, but an application layer may exist above the AP 1363 and / or transport network layer 1354. The application layer may be a layer where a user of the UE 701, RAN node 711, or other network element interacts with a software application, for example, executed by the application circuit 1005 or the application circuit 1105, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for the software application to interact with the communication system (such as the baseband circuit 1210) of the UE 701 or RAN node 711. In some implementations, the IP layer and / or the application layer may provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5 to 7 of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model, or portions thereof (e.g., OSI layer 7—application layer, OSI layer 6—presentation layer, and OSI layer 5—session layer).

[0259] Fig.14 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments. Specifically, Fig.14 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 1400 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1410, one or more memory / storage devices 1420, and one or more communication resources 1430, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1440. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1402 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1400.

[0260] Processor 1410 may include, for example, processor 1412 and processor 1414. Processor 1410 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0261] The memory / storage device 1420 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1420 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0262] The communication resources 1430 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1404 or one or more databases 1406 via the network 1408. For example, the communication resources 1430 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via USB), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, (or Low power consumption) components, components and other communication components.

[0263] The instructions 1450 may include software, programs, applications, applet, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1410 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1450 may reside in whole or in part in at least one of the processor 1410 (e.g., in a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1420, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 1450 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1400 from any combination of the peripheral device 1404 or the database 1406. Thus, the memory of the processor 1410, the memory / storage device 1420, the peripheral device 1404, and the database 1406 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to a user equipment (UE); Determining to initiate a mobile called (MT) early data transmission (EDT) for the UE is based at least in part on one or more of: UE Coverage Enhancement (CE) level; Maximum Transport Block Size (TBS); or UE MT EDT capability information; as well as In response to determining to initiate the MT EDT, the downlink data is transmitted to the UE.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The indication of downlink data for transmission is received in a paging message.

3. The method according to claim 1, in, receiving, by a mobility management entity (MME) via control plane signaling, said indication of downlink data for transmission, and The control plane signaling includes size information of the downlink data.

4. The method according to claim 1, in, The indication includes size information of the downlink data, and Wherein, determining to initiate the MT EDT is further based on the size information.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The downlink data is received from a mobility management entity (MME) via control plane signaling.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The downlink data is transmitted to the UE in a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message using a user plane cellular internet of things (UP CIoT) optimization.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The downlink data is transmitted to the UE in a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) protocol data unit (PDU).

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The downlink RRC message further includes at least one of the following items: Suspend indication; Next Hop Chain Count (NCC); or Resume ID.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The downlink RRC message keeps the UE in RRC_IDLE.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received from the UE indicating a reason for resumption of MT access.

11. A device, comprising: one or more processors; as well as A memory having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform operations including: receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to a user equipment (UE); Determining to initiate a mobile called (MT) early data transmission (EDT) for the UE is based at least in part on one or more of: UE Coverage Enhancement (CE) level; Maximum Transport Block Size (TBS); or UE MT EDT capability information; as well as In response to determining to initiate the MT EDT, the downlink data is transmitted to the UE.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein The indication of downlink data for transmission is received in a paging message.

13. The device according to claim 11, in, receiving, by a mobility management entity (MME) via control plane signaling, said indication of downlink data for transmission, and The control plane signaling includes size information of the downlink data.

14. The device according to claim 11, in, The indication includes size information of the downlink data, and Wherein, determining to initiate the MT EDT is further based on the size information.

15. The device according to claim 11, wherein The downlink data is received from a mobility management entity (MME) via control plane signaling.

16. The device according to claim 11, wherein The downlink data is transmitted to the UE in a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message using a user plane cellular internet of things (UP CIoT) optimization.

17. The device according to claim 11, wherein: The downlink data is transmitted to the UE in a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) protocol data unit (PDU).

18. The device according to claim 16, wherein: The downlink RRC message further includes at least one of the following items: Suspend indication; Next Hop Chain Count (NCC); or Resume ID.

19. The device according to claim 16, wherein: The downlink RRC message keeps the UE in RRC_IDLE.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, the operations further comprising: A radio resource control (RRC) message is received from the UE indicating a reason for resumption of MT access.

21. A wireless communication system, comprising: a radio access network (RAN), the RAN comprising user equipment (UE) and base stations; as well as One or more processors and one or more storage devices storing instructions, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, being operable to cause the base station to perform operations for mobile station called (MT) early data transmission (EDT), the operations comprising: receiving an indication of downlink data for transmission to the UE; The determination to initiate the MT EDT is based at least in part on one or more of: UE Coverage Enhancement (CE) level; Maximum Transport Block Size (TBS); or UE MT EDT capability information; and In response to determining to initiate the MT EDT, the downlink data is transmitted to the UE.

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