Enhanced privacy for priority access in wireless systems

Abstract

Systems and techniques for wireless communication are disclosed. For example, a process may include transmitting a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first setup cause value indicating that a device does not have priority access. The process may also include determining that the device may use priority access; transmitting a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the device has priority access; and accessing the wireless network using the priority access.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to wireless communication. For example, aspects of this disclosure relate to systems and techniques for providing enhanced privacy for prioritized access in a wireless system such as a wireless communication system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Wireless communication systems are deployed to provide various telecommunication and data services including telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. Broadband wireless communication systems have evolved through several generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data wireless devices with Internet capabilities, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax). Examples of wireless communication systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) systems, etc. Other wireless communication technologies include 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.

[0003] The fifth-generation (5G) mobile standard requires higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard (also known as "New Radio" or "NR") is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and data rates of 1 gigabit per second to tens of employees on an office floor. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported.

[0004] Although wireless communication systems have made great technological progress over the years, challenges still remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver, thereby reducing the throughput that a wireless device such as a User Equipment (UE) can achieve to a particular wireless network when there are wireless nodes available for accessing the wireless network. Therefore, the ability of a wireless device such as a UE to select from multiple wireless networks (such as from 5G and another wireless network or from multiple 5G networks) should be enhanced. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, the following summary is not to be considered an exhaustive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor is it to be considered to identify key or critical elements of all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope of any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary presents in simplified form certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0006] Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media for performing wireless communication are disclosed. In one illustrative example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, the apparatus including: at least one memory; and at least one processor (e.g., implemented in circuitry), the at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured to: transmit a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; determine that the apparatus can use priority access; transmit a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and use the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0007] In another example, a method for wireless communication includes: transmitting a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; determining that the apparatus can use priority access; transmitting a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and using the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0008] As another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: transmit a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; determine that the apparatus can use priority access; transmit a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and use the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0009] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication includes: means for transmitting a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; means for determining that the apparatus can use priority access; means for transmitting a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and means for using the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0010] In some aspects, one or more of the apparatuses described herein are, are a part of, or include the following: a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone or a so-called "smartphone", a tablet computer, or other types of mobile devices), a wearable device, an extended reality device (e.g., a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device), a personal computer, a laptop computer, a video server, a television (e.g., an Internet-connected television), a vehicle (or a computing device or system of a vehicle), or other devices. In some aspects, the apparatus includes at least one camera for capturing one or more images or video frames. For example, the apparatus may include one camera (e.g., an RGB camera) or multiple cameras for capturing one or more images and / or one or more videos including video frames. In some aspects, the apparatus includes a display for displaying one or more images, videos, notifications, or other displayable data. In some aspects, the apparatus includes a transmitter configured to send one or more video frames and / or syntax data to at least one device via a transmission medium. In some aspects, the processor includes a neural processing unit (NPU), a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or other processing devices or components.

[0011] The features and technical advantages of examples in accordance with the present disclosure have been outlined rather broadly above so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both as to their organization and method of operation, as well as associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the drawings provided is for the purpose of illustration and description and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

[0012] While aspects are described herein by way of illustration of some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The techniques described herein can be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or packaging arrangements. For example, some aspects can be implemented via an integrated chip implementation or other non-module component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). Aspects can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and / or system-level components. Devices incorporating the described aspects and features can include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals can include one or more components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or summers). The aspects described herein are intended to be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and / or end-user devices of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0013] Based on the drawings and the detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Examples of specific implementations are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings:

[0015] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network according to some examples;

[0016] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating the design of a base station and a user equipment (UE) device according to some examples, which enables the transmission and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station;

[0017] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decomposed base station according to some examples;

[0018] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a user equipment according to some examples;

[0019] Figures 5A to 5D depicts various example aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network according to some examples;

[0020] Figure 6 illustrates an example connection procedure for establishing a connection with a wireless network according to aspects of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for enhanced privacy for priority access in a wireless system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Certain aspects and implementations of the present disclosure are provided below. Some of these aspects and implementations may be applied independently, and some of them may be applied in combination, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the following description, specific details are set forth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various implementations of the present application. However, it will be apparent that the various implementations may be practiced without these specific details. The accompanying drawings and description are not intended to be restrictive.

[0024] The following description only provides example implementations and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Instead, the following description of the example implementations will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the example implementations. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0025] In some cases, a wireless device such as a user equipment (UE) may establish certain connections, such as a radio resource control (RRC) connection, with a wireless network via a random access channel (RACH) procedure. During this RACH procedure, the UE and the wireless network may exchange certain identifiers that can be used to identify the connection. In some cases, these identifiers may be exchanged in plain text, or the identifiers may be derived from information exchanged in plain text. Additionally, a cause value for establishment (which may be derived from an access identity value configured on the UE or received from the network in a previous connection) may be exchanged in plain text during this RACH procedure. In some cases, certain UEs may be configured for priority access, and an indication of this priority access may be included in the RACH procedure. Priority access UEs include UEs that may be used by subscribers who subscribe to priority access from a home network operator, such as enterprise subscribers, first responders, and / or other government entities. Transmitting an indication of priority access via the cause value in the RRC message together with the UE identifier for identifying the connection may allow priority access UEs to be tracked by malicious entities on the wireless network, thus compromising the privacy of the user.

[0026] This document describes systems, apparatuses, electronic devices, methods (also referred to as processes), and computer-readable media (collectively referred to herein as "systems and technologies") for enhancing the privacy of prioritized access in a wireless system by minimizing the potential leakage of user privacy-sensitive information. For example, rather than having a prioritized UE use a configured prioritized access identifier for every connection request, the prioritized UE may use a conventional access identifier for normal access and use the configured prioritized access identifier only when prioritized access is needed as determined by the UE (such as during network congestion or when the user of the UE explicitly authorizes the use of prioritized access for the connection).

[0027] Additional aspects of the present disclosure are described in more detail below.

[0028] Wireless networks are deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. The wireless network may support access links for communication between various wireless devices. An access link may refer to any communication link between a client device (e.g., a user equipment (UE), a station (STA), or other client device) and a base station (e.g., a 3GPP gNodeB (gNB) for 5G / NR, a 3GPP eNodeB (eNB) for LTE, a Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station) or any communication link between the client device and components of a split base station (e.g., a central unit, a distributed unit, and / or a radio unit). In one example, the access link between a UE and a 3GPP gNB may be through the Uu interface. In some cases, the access link may support uplink signaling, downlink signaling, connection procedures, etc.

[0029] In some aspects, a wireless communication network may be implemented using one or more modulation schemes. For example, a wireless communication network may be implemented using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) schemes such as 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, etc.

[0030] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "network entity" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, and / or tracking device, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, smart glasses, wearable ring, and / or an extended reality (XR) device such as a virtual reality (VR) headset, an augmented reality (AR) headset or glasses, or a mixed reality (MR) headset), a vehicle (e.g., a car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), and / or an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc., for a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variants thereof. Generally speaking, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11 communication standard, etc.).

[0031] The network entity can be implemented in a centralized or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a distributed base station architecture, and can include one or more of a Central Unit (CU), a Distributed Unit (DU), a Radio Unit (RU), a Near Real-Time (Near RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), or a Non-Real-Time (Non-RT) RIC. A base station (e.g., having a centralized / monolithic base station architecture or a distributed base station architecture) can operate to communicate with a UE according to one of several RATs depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and can alternatively be referred to as an Access Point (AP), a network node, a NodeB (NB), an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station can mainly be used to support the wireless access of the UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections of the supported UE. In some systems, the base station can provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, the base station can provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE transmits signals to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station transmits signals to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or a forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, or a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to an uplink, reverse, or downlink and / or forward traffic channel.

[0032] The term "network entity" or "base station" (e.g., having a centralized / monolithic base station architecture or a split base station architecture) can refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, in the case where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or a number of cell sectors) of the base station. In the case where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, these physical TRPs can be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in the case where the base station employs beamforming). In the case where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs can be a serving base station that receives a measurement report from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal (or simply "reference signal") the UE is measuring. Since, as used herein, a TRP is the point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, a reference to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0033] In some specific implementations that support UE positioning, a network entity or base station may not support wireless access of the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections regarding the UE), but instead may send a reference signal to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station can be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0034] An RF signal includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter can send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of an RF signal through a multipath channel, a receiver can receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver can be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, where the context clearly indicates that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal, the RF signal can also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal".

[0035] Various aspects of the systems and techniques described herein will be discussed below with reference to the drawings. According to various aspects, Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as "network entities" or "network nodes". One or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in a disaggregated base station architecture and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a New Radio (NR) network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0036] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122 and interface to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170) via the core network 170. Among other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: transferring user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via the EPC or 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 (which may be wired and / or wireless).

[0037] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station in base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographical coverage area 110. In one aspect, the base stations 102 in each coverage area 110 can support one or more cells. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, which is called carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it depending on the context. In addition, since the TRP is usually the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), as long as a carrier frequency can be detected within a certain part of the geographical coverage area 110 and this carrier frequency is used for communication within this part.

[0038] Although the geographical coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 can partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas in the geographical coverage area 110 can substantially overlap with a larger geographical coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' can have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macro cell base stations can be called a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network can also include a home eNB (HeNB), which can provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0039] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 can include an uplink (also called reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or a downlink (also called forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 can use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 can pass through one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers can be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and the uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers can be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0040] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN AP 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) or Listen Before Talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether the channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include devices (e.g., UEs, etc.) that communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, APs 150, etc. using the Ultra-Wideband (UWB) spectrum. The range of the UWB spectrum may be from 3.1 GHz to 10.5 GHz.

[0041] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technologies and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the WLAN AP 150. Small cell base stations 102' that employ LTE and / or 5G in the unlicensed spectrum may enhance the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0042] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with a UE 182. The mmW base station 180 may be implemented in an integrated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture (e.g., including one or more of a CU, DU, RU, near RT RIC, or non-RT RIC). Extremely High Frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The Super High Frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW and / or near mmW radio bands have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmission and / or reception) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. Additionally, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more of the base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0043] In some aspects related to 5G, the spectrum in which a radio network node or entity (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operates is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 megahertz (MHz) to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell, where the UE 104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure in this cell. The primary carrier carries all common control channels as well as UE-specific control channels, and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is the carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may only contain necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE-specific, the UE-specific signaling information and signals may not exist in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same holds for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since the "serving cell" (whether it is a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency and / or component carrier through which some base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0044] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies utilized by macro cell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies used by macro cell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCell"). In carrier aggregation, base station 102 and / or UE 104 may use a spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz) bandwidth per carrier, with a total of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) in each direction for transmission. The component carriers may be adjacent to each other in the spectrum or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz).

[0045] To operate on multiple carrier frequencies, base station 102 and / or UE 104 may be equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, UE 104 may have two receivers, namely "Receiver 1" and "Receiver 2", where "Receiver 1" is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to band (i.e., carrier frequency) 'X' or band 'Y', and "Receiver 2" is a single-band receiver that can be tuned to only band 'Z'. In this example, if UE 104 is being served in band 'X', then band 'X' will be referred to as the PCell or active carrier frequency, and "Receiver 1" will need to be tuned from band 'X' to band 'Y' (SCell) to measure band 'Y' (and vice versa). In contrast, regardless of whether UE 104 is being served in band 'X' or band 'Y', due to the separate "Receiver 2", UE 104 can measure band 'Z' without interrupting the service on band 'X' or band 'Y'.

[0046] Wireless communication system 100 may further include UE 164, which may communicate with macro cell base station 102 on communication link 120 and / or communicate with mmW base station 180 on mmW communication link 184. For example, macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCell for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCell for UE 164.

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which is indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In Figure 1 the example of, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs in UE 104 that is connected to one of the base stations in base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain a cellular connection through this D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 that is connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain a WLAN-based Internet connection through this D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.) to support.

[0048] Figure 2 FIG. shows a block diagram of the design of base station 102 and UE 104 according to some aspects of the present disclosure, which enables the transmission and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station. Design 200 includes components of base station 102 and UE 104, and the base station and the UE can be Figure 1 one of the base stations in base station 102 and one of the UEs in UE 104. Base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 234a to 234t, and UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 252a to 252r, where generally T≥1 and R≥1.

[0049] At base station 102, transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) for each UE at least in part based on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UEs, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE at least in part based on the MCSs selected for the UEs, and provide data symbols for all UEs. Transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. Transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRSs)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS)). Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a through 232t. Modulators 232a through 232t are shown as combined modulator→demodulator (MOD-DEMOD). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each of modulators 232a through 232t may process the corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each of modulators 232a through 232t may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals may be transmitted from modulators 232a through 232t via T antennas 234a through 234t, respectively. According to certain aspects described in more detail below, position coding may be utilized to generate synchronization signals to convey additional information.

[0050] At the UE 104, antennas 252a through 252r may receive downlink signals from the base station 102 and / or other base stations and may provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) 254a through 254r, respectively. Demodulators 254a through 254r are shown as combined modulator→demodulator (MOD-DEMOD). In some instances, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each of demodulators 254a through 254r may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the received signals to obtain input samples. Each of demodulators 254a through 254r may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain the received symbols. The MIMO detector 256 may obtain the received symbols from all R demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols when applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide the decoded data for the UE 104 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information and system information to the controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a channel quality indicator (CQI), etc.

[0051] On the uplink, at the UE 104, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from the data source 262 and control information from the controller / processor 280 (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals (e.g., at least partially based on a β value or a set of β values associated with the one or more reference signals). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be pre-coded by the TX MIMO processor 266 when applicable, further processed by the modulators 254a to 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 102. At the base station 102, the uplink signals from the UE 104 and other UEs may be received by the antennas 234a to 234t, processed by the demodulators 232a to 232t, detected by the MIMO detector 236 when applicable, and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain the decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller (processor) 240. The base station 102 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with the network controller 231 via the communication unit 244. The network controller 231 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292.

[0052] In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 104 may be included in a housing. The controller 240 of the base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 104, and / or Figure 2 any other components may perform one or more techniques associated with implicit UCI β value determination for NR.

[0053] The memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for the base station 102 and the UE 104, respectively. The scheduler 246 may schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink.

[0054] In some aspects, the deployment of a communication system such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system can be arranged with various components or constituent parts in a variety of ways. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, mobility elements of the network, radio access network (RAN) nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or network equipment (such as a base station (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) can be implemented in a converged or decomposed architecture. For example, a BS (such as a NodeB (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit receive point (TRP), or cell, etc.) can be implemented as a converged base station (also referred to as a stand-alone BS or monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.

[0055] A converged base station can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station can be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU can be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs can be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, can be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU can be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU can also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0056] The base station type operation or network design can consider the aggregation characteristics of the base station functionality. For example, a decomposed base station can be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as a network configuration initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also referred to as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition can include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which can achieve flexibility in network design. The various units of a decomposed base station or a decomposed RAN architecture can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0057] Figure 3FIG. shows a diagram illustrating an exemplary disaggregated base station 300 architecture. The disaggregated base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310, which may communicate directly with the core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non RT) RIC 315 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both). The CU 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via a respective midhaul link (such as an F1 interface). The DU 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via a respective fronthaul link. The RU 340 may communicate with a respective UE 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some specific implementations, the UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0058] Each of the units (e.g., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near RT RIC 325, non RT RIC 315, and SMO framework 305) may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces, which are configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of these units or the associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface that is configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver), that is configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium, or both.

[0059] In some aspects, the CU 310 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to signal with other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit → User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit → Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the CU 310 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as the E1 interface. As needed, the CU 310 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 330 for network control and signaling.

[0060] The DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 340. In some aspects, the DU 330 may host at least part of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and one or more high Physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) based at least in part on a functional split (such as the functional split defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, the DU 330 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to signal with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 330 or with the control functions hosted by the CU 310.

[0061] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, the RUs 340 controlled by the DU 330 may correspond to logical nodes that host RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.) or both, at least in part based on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 340 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 104. In some embodiments, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communication with the RU 340 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU 330 and CU 310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture such as a vRAN architecture.

[0062] The SMO framework 305 can be configured to support the RAN deployment and orchestration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, and these dedicated physical resources can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as the Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, the CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near RT RIC 325. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate with the hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 311) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate directly with one or more RU340 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 can also include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305.

[0063] The non-RT RIC 315 can be configured to include logical functions that can implement non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and update, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 can be coupled to or communicate with the near RT RIC 325 (such as via the A1 interface). The near RT RIC 325 can be configured to include logical functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through interfaces (such as via the E2 interface) via data collection and actions, and this interface connects one or more CU 310, one or more DU 330, or both, and the O-eNB to the near RT RIC 325.

[0064] In some specific implementations, to generate the AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and may be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to tune the RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor the long-term trends and patterns of the performance and employ an AI / ML model to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 305 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0065] Figure 4 An example of the computing system 470 of the wireless device 407 is illustrated. The wireless device 407 may include a client device such as a UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 152, UE 190) or other types of devices that can be used by an end user (e.g., a station (STA) configured to communicate using a Wi-Fi interface). For example, the wireless device 407 may include a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch, glasses, an extended reality (XR) device (such as a virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality (MR) device), etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an access point, and / or another device configured to communicate via a wireless communication network. The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that may be electrically coupled or communicatively coupled via a bus 489 (or may communicate in other ways, as the case may be). For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. The one or more processors 484 may include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or systems. The one or more processors 484 may use the bus 489 to communicate between cores and / or with one or more memory devices 486.

[0066] The computing system 470 may further include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more antennas 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., a camera, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch-sensitive screen, a touchpad, a keypad, a microphone, and / or the like), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., a display, a speaker, a printer, and / or the like).

[0067] In some aspects, computing system 470 may include one or more RF interfaces configured to send and / or receive radio frequency (RF) signals. In some examples, the RF interface may include components such as modem 476, wireless transceiver 478, and / or antenna 487. One or more wireless transceivers 478 may send and receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) via antenna 487 from one or more other devices, such as other wireless devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as eNB and / or gNB, Wi-Fi access points (APs) such as routers, range extenders, etc.), cloud networks, and the like. In some examples, computing system 470 may include multiple antennas or antenna arrays that may facilitate simultaneous transmit and receive functionality. Antenna 487 may be an omnidirectional antenna such that radio frequency (RF) signals may be received from all directions and transmitted in all directions. Wireless signal 488 may be transmitted via a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network, such as a cellular or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a WiFi network), a Bluetooth TM network and / or other networks.

[0068] In some examples, wireless signal 488 may be directly transmitted to other wireless devices using sidelink communication (e.g., using the PC5 interface, using the DSRC interface, etc.). Wireless transceiver 478 may be configured to transmit RF signals via antenna 487 according to one or more transmit power parameters that may be associated with one or more regulatory modes for performing sidelink communication. Wireless transceiver 478 may also be configured to receive sidelink communication signals with different signal parameters from other wireless devices.

[0069] In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end that includes one or more components such as amplifiers, mixers (also referred to as signal multipliers) for signal downconversion, frequency synthesizers (also referred to as oscillators) that supply signals to the mixers, baseband filters, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), one or more power amplifiers, and other components. The RF front end generally may handle the selection of wireless signal 488 and the conversion of the wireless signal to baseband frequency or intermediate frequency, and may convert the RF signal to the digital domain.

[0070] In some cases, computing system 470 may include a codec (or CODEC) configured to encode and / or decode data sent and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, computing system 470 may include an encryption / decryption device or component configured to encrypt and / or decrypt data sent and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 (e.g., according to AES and / or DES standards).

[0071] One or more SIMs 474 may each securely store an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number and associated keys assigned to a user of the wireless device 407. The IMSI and keys may be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or carrier associated with the one or more SIMs 474. One or more modems 476 may modulate one or more signals to encode information for transmission using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 may also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, one or more modems 476 may include a Wi-Fi modem, a 4G (or LTE) modem, a 5G (or NR) modem, and / or other types of modems. One or more modems 476 and one or more wireless transceivers 478 may be used to communicate data of the one or more SIMs 474.

[0072] The computing system 470 may also include one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486) (and / or communicate with them), which may include but are not limited to local and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updateable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0073] In various embodiments, functionality may be stored as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) in the memory device 486 and executed by one or more processors 484 and / or one or more DSPs 482. The computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., located within one or more memory devices 486), which include, for example, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more applications, which may include computer programs implementing the functionality provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems as described herein.

[0074] Figures 5A to 5D Depicts various example aspects of data structures for a wireless communication system (such as Figure 1 the wireless communication system 100). Figures 5A to 5D Depicts aspects of data structures for a wireless communication network (such as Figure 1 the wireless communication network 100). Specifically, Figure 5AFIG. 500 is an illustration of an example of a first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure. Figure 5B FIG. 530 is an illustration of an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe. Figure 5C FIG. 550 is an illustration of an example of a second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and Figure 5D FIG. 580 is an illustration of an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

[0075] In various aspects, the 5G frame structure can be frequency division duplexing (FDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL. The 5G frame structure can also be time division duplexing (TDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL. In Figure 5A and Figure 5C the examples provided, it is assumed that the 5G frame structure is TDD, subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and X is flexibly used between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 34 (mostly UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 34 and 28 respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any one of the various available slot formats 0 to 61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and all UL respectively. The other slot formats 2 - 61 include a mixture of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The slot format is configured for the UE via the received slot format indicator (SFI) (configured dynamically via DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically via radio resource control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to a 5G frame structure that is TDD.

[0076] Other wireless communication technologies can have different frame structures and / or different channels. One frame (10 ms) can be divided into 10 equal-sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe can include one or more time slots. A subframe can also include mini-slots, which can include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. In some examples, each time slot can include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the slot configuration.

[0077] For example, for slot configuration 0, each time slot can include 14 symbols, while for slot configuration 1, each time slot can include 7 symbols. The symbols on DL can be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP - OFDM) symbols. The symbols on UL can be CP - OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT - s - OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC - FDMA) symbols) (for power - limited scenarios; limited to single - stream transmission).

[0078] The number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and the parameter set. For time slot configuration 0, different parameter sets (μ) 0 to 5 allow each subframe to have 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 time slots respectively. For time slot configuration 1, different parameter sets 0 to 2 allow each subframe to have 2, 4, and 8 time slots respectively. Thus, for time slot configuration 0 and parameter set μ, there are 14 symbols / time slot and 2μ time slots / subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the parameter set. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2μ × 15 kHz, where μ is parameter set 0 to 5. Thus, parameter set μ = 0 has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and parameter set μ = 5 has a subcarrier spacing of 480 kHz. The symbol length / duration is negatively correlated with the subcarrier spacing. Figures 5A to 5D An example of time slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per time slot and parameter set μ = 2 with 4 time slots per subframe is provided. The time slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0079] A resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also referred to as a physical RB (PRB)) that extends over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (RE). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0080] As Figure 5A illustrated, some of the REs in the RE carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 152, UE 190). The RS can include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) (denoted as Rx for a specific configuration, where 100x is the port number, but other DM-RS configurations are also possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS can also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0081] Figure 5B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCE), each CCE including nine resource element groups (REG), each REG including four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol.

[0082] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) can be in symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 152, UE 190) to determine subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity.

[0083] The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) can be within symbol 4 of a specific subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing.

[0084] Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the position of the aforementioned DM-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the Master Information Block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a Synchronization Signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the System Frame Number (SFN) and the number of RBs in the system bandwidth. The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information such as System Information Blocks (SIBs) not transmitted via the PBCH, and paging messages.

[0085] As Figure 5C Illustrated, some of the REs in a RE carry DM-RS (indicated as R for a specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE can transmit the DM-RS for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and the DM-RS for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS can be transmitted in the previous one or two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used, the PUCCH DM-RS can be transmitted with different configurations. The UE can transmit the Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). The SRS can be transmitted in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can transmit the SRS on one of the teeth of the comb. The SRS can be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.

[0086] Figure 5D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH can be located at the position indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as a scheduling request, a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), a Rank Indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and can additionally be used to carry a Buffer Status Report (BSR), a Power Headroom Report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0087] In some cases, a UE may not be connected to a wireless network (e.g., when there is no NAS signaling connection between the UE and the wireless network). For example, the UE may have just powered on, the UE may have exited airplane mode, the UE has entered a new serving area, RRC reconfiguration, handover, etc. The disconnected UE may be in an idle state, and the UE may listen to the wireless network. After the UE identifies the wireless network, the UE may attempt to connect to the wireless network. In some cases, the UE may attempt to connect to the wireless network via a radio node to establish an RRC connection.

[0088] Figure 6 An example connection procedure 600 for establishing a connection to a wireless network in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The connection procedure 600 includes messages exchanged between a UE 602 and a network 604 (e.g., via a radio node). In some cases, the connection procedure 600 may be a RACH procedure. In some cases, a msg1 606 may be sent from the UE 602 to the network 604. The msg1 may include a preamble from the UE 602 for accessing the network 604. In response to the msg1 606, the network 604 may send a msg2 608 to the UE 602. In some cases, the msg2 608 may include initial information for connecting to the radio node, such as timing alignment information, an initial uplink grant, and an identifier. The identifier may include a preamble identifier, a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI). The C-RNTI may be used to identify an RRC connection in a cell. In response to the msg2 608, the UE 602 may send a msg3 610 to the network 604. The msg3 610 may be sent based on the initial uplink grant from the msg2 608, and the msg3 610 may include an RRC message. The RRC message may be a request to establish an RRC connection. For example, the msg3 610 may include an RRCSetupRequest message.

[0089] The RRC Setup Request may include an initial UE identifier and a setup cause. In some cases, the initial UE identifier may include a part of the Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) and / or the 5G NR Globally Unique Identifier (5G-GUTI) and the C-RNTI. In some cases, when the UE 602 registers with the network 604, the network 604 may assign a 5G-GUTI to the UE 602. In some cases, the TMSI may be derived based on the 5G-GUTI. The TMSI and / or the 5G-GUTI may be core network identifiers and may be maintained even if the RRC connection is lost. If the RRC setup is successful, msg4 612 may be transmitted from the network 604 to the UE 602 to establish the RRC connection. In response to msg4 612, the UE 602 may send msg5 614. Msg5 614 may be an RRC Setup Complete message, and the RRC Setup Complete may include the C-RNTI.

[0090] In some cases, certain UEs may have preferential access to the network. This preferential access helps to allow the UE 602 to access network resources by prioritizing connection requests from such UEs, regardless of congestion or overload on the network 604 resources. For example, in the event of a disaster and the network is highly congested due to a large number of UEs attempting to access the network, the network will allow UEs with preferential access to access network resources, where regular UEs may not be allocated resources. In some cases, the preferential access of the UE is identified in the value of the setup cause included in msg3 610 (which is derived from the access identity value). In certain cases, the UE 602 may have preferential access. For example, if the UE 602 is configured with one or more access classification identifiers associated with high-priority users (e.g., a setup cause set to highPriorityAccess and / or an access identity class set to 11 - 15), multimedia priority service users (e.g., MPS set to 1, MPS-PriorityAccess, and / or an access identity class), or mission-critical service users (e.g., MCS set to 2, MCS-PriorityAccess, and / or an access identity class), the UE 602 may have preferential access to the network 604. In some cases, high-priority, MPS, or MCS users may include users such as enterprise users, police, fire, or other government users. In some cases, the UE may be configured for preferential access (e.g., via configuration in the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) or via information received through NAS signaling). In some cases, once the UE is configured for preferential access, the UE may continue to use preferential access to access the network.

[0091] In some cases, including in msg3 610 a setup cause derived from a prioritized access identifier configured on the UE may identify certain categories of UEs or users configured for prioritized access. This is because, before access stratum security is established between the UE and the network, the setup cause and UE identifiers such as C-RNTI and / or TMSI are transmitted in cleartext in msg3. In these cases, any one or more of messages msg1 606 to msg5 614 may be transmitted in cleartext without scrambling and / or encryption. For example, access stratum (AS) and non-access stratum (NAS) security may be established after the RRC connection is established. In some cases, by examining msg2 608, msg3 610, and / or msg5 614, the setup cause from msg3 610 may be linked to the C-RNTI, TMSI, and / or 5G-GUTI for the RRC connection. For example, the TMSI may be transmitted in the same RRC setup request message as the setup cause. This allows an attacker to associate the setup cause with the TMSI. Additionally, there may be an exploitable link between the setup cause and the C-RNTI because, after the C-RNTI is transmitted in a random access response (e.g., msg2 608), the C-RNTI may be present in the MAC layer of the RRC setup request that also contains the setup cause. Using an uplink sniffer, an attacker may be able to link the setup cause to the C-RNTI until the UE releases its connection. It may be possible to track prioritized access UEs / users not only during the lifetime of an RRC connection but also across RRC connections based on the C-RNTI, TMSI, and / or 5G-GUTI. For example, the TMSI (or 5G-GUTI) may not change between RRC connections across multiple cells. As another example, the 5G-GUTI is included in the NAS service request and the 5G-GUTI may not change until the 5G-GUTI is specifically reallocated by the 5G core network (e.g., at initial registration, registration update, or at paging).

[0092] Although the TMSI and C-RNTI may change, since the establishment cause remains the same and may be included in each RRC connection request, it is possible to determine that the UE is a high-priority UE. This is valid whether the UE stays within the same cell or moves across cells, because the UE will likely often complete the RRC connection setup procedure, thereby exposing the establishment cause, TMSI, and C-RNTI each time. This is of less concern for ordinary users, as the number of ordinary users is expected to make it difficult to determine which user is associated with a particular identifier. However, the number of high-priority UEs / users is expected to be much lower, and the exposed priority access UEs / users may allow other targeted attacks on these privileged service users. The threat varies according to the number of priority users tracked by the attacker in the area. If there are several priority users, it may be possible to track them individually across various connections using some assumptions (e.g., no new priority users are attaching, the same user is re-establishing a connection, etc.). In the presence of many priority users, it may be difficult to pick out and track a particular user, but the ability to track them as a group as they move around the network may itself be a privacy threat. Minimizing the leakage of this information to help protect the privacy of priority users and avoid potential tracking may be useful.

[0093] In some cases, it may be useful to allow priority users to use their configured access identifier when priority access is needed, rather than having priority users use their configured access identifier to derive the establishment cause in each RRC connection request. For example, under normal circumstances, the UE may use a normal access identifier (e.g., access identifier 0) to request access. When the network is congested (e.g., due to a disaster scenario or other reasons), or when the user of the UE explicitly requests priority access (e.g., via the UE's interface), then the UE may use priority access (e.g., using an access identifier indicating that the UE / user is an MPS, MCS, or other high-priority access identifier) to request access.

[0094] In some cases, the UE may control whether to use priority access only when needed or always use priority access via the configuration for the UE. As an example, the configuration for using priority access may be provided by the USIM and / or the mobile equipment (ME). The UE may include both the USIM and the ME, where the USIM acts as the trust anchor for the ME regarding the radio network. As a first example, the USIM may include the configuration, and the ME may obtain the configuration from the USIM (e.g., access the USIM to retrieve the configuration for priority access). The configuration on the USIM may be a service in the UST (USIM Service Table) or may be part of a USIM file (EF). In a second example, the configuration may be included in the non-volatile memory of the ME (such as the non-volatile memory of the ME). For example, the ME may be pre-configured with a priority access configuration.

[0095] If such a configuration exists on the UE (e.g., for high-priority access), the UE can generally use the normal access identifier 0 (zero). When priority access is to be used, the UE can use the access identifier associated with its priority access. In some cases, the UE can determine whether to use priority access (e.g., network radio resources that are denied access by the network due to congestion), or the user of the UE can (e.g., via a user interface) determine to use priority access. For example, the UE can transmit msg3 including RRCSetupRequest to establish a connection with the network using a conventional access identifier (e.g., access identifier 0). If the network is congested, the network can respond with a message indicating network congestion or otherwise unavailable. Alternatively, the network can not respond to msg3. The UE can determine network congestion based on the received message (or no message received), and then the UE can use priority access to retry accessing the network (e.g., retransmit RRCSetupRequest with a setup reason value set to MPS, MCS, or other high-priority access identifier). As another example, the user can request to use priority access via the user interface of the UE. Based on the user request, the UE can determine that priority access can be used, and the UE can attempt to use that priority access (e.g., transmit RRCSetupRequest with a setup reason value set to MPS, MCS, or other high-priority access identifier) to access the network. In some cases, to improve the privacy of such users, the UE can request authorization from the user (e.g., by displaying a message) before using its configured non-zero access identifier.

[0096] Figure 7 is a flowchart of an enhanced privacy process 700 for priority access in a wireless system according to aspects of the present disclosure. Process 700 can be executed by a computing device (or apparatus) or a component of a computing device (e.g., a chipset, codec, etc.). The computing device can be a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, Figure 1 UEs 104, 190, 152, 164, and 182, Figures 2 to 3 UE 104, Figure 4 a wireless device 407, etc.), a network-connected wearable device such as a watch, an extended reality (XR) device such as a virtual reality (VR) device or an augmented reality (AR) device, a vehicle or a component or system of a vehicle, or other types of computing devices. The operations of process 700 can be implemented on one or more processors (e.g., Figure 2 controller / processor 280, Figure 4 processor 484, Figure 8software components that are executed and run on a processor 810, etc. of the [device]. In some cases, the computing device may include an indication (such as a configuration) that the UE can use enhanced privacy technologies (such as the technologies discussed in various aspects of the present disclosure).

[0097] At block 702, the computing device (or its component) may send (e.g., via Figure 2 the modems / demodulators 254a - 254r and antennas 252a - 252r of the [device], Figure 4 the wireless transceiver 478 of the [device], Figure 8 the communication interface 840 of the [device], etc.) a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message that includes a first establishment cause value indicating that the device does not have priority access. For example, the UE may transmit msg3 including RRCSetupRequest to establish a connection with the network. Msg3 may include an access identifier for a regular user (e.g., access identifier 0). In some cases, this transmission may be based on an indication that the UE can use enhanced privacy technologies. For example, the UE may access priority access configuration information and determine not to use priority access because the UE has not obtained an indication to use priority access. In some cases, the first establishment cause value may be derived based on an access classification identifier configured on the computing device (such as in a memory or stored on a Universal Subscriber Identity Module). In some cases, the access classification identifier may not be included in the first RRC message.

[0098] At block 704, the computing device (or its component) may determine that the device can use priority access. In some cases, the computing device (or its component) may determine that priority access can be used based on an indication of network congestion. In some cases, the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network that indicates the wireless network is congested. In some cases, the indication of network congestion includes a non - response to the first RRC message. In some cases, the computing device (or its component) may determine that priority access can be used based on user input received via a user interface.

[0099] At block 706, the computing device (or its component) may send a second RRC message that includes a second establishment cause value indicating that the device has priority access. For example, the computing device (or its component) may re - transmit an RRCSetupRequest with an establishment cause value set to MPS, MCS, or other high - priority access identifier. In some cases, the second establishment cause value may be derived based on the access classification identifier. In some cases, the computing device (or its component) may access stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value. In some cases, the stored priority access configuration information is stored on a Universal Subscriber Identity Module or at least one memory (e.g., Figure 2 the memory 282 of the [device], Figure 4memory device 486, Figure 8 memory 815, 820, 825, etc.) and store the priority access configuration information in at least one memory. In some cases, the first RRC message and the second RRC message include an RRC connection request message. In some cases, the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on a configured access class identification value.

[0100] At block 708, the computing device (or its component) may use priority access to access a wireless network.

[0101] In some examples, the processes described herein (e.g., process 700 and / or other processes described herein) may be performed by a computing device or apparatus (e.g., a UE or a base station). In another example, process 700 may be performed by Figure 1 UE 104. In another example, process 700 may be performed by a computing device having Figure 8 the computing system 800 shown.

[0102] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system for implementing certain aspects of the present technology. Specifically, Figure 8 illustrates an example of a computing system 800, which may be any computing device, such as one that constitutes an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any component thereof, where the components of the system communicate with each other using connection 805. Connection 805 may be a physical connection using a bus or a direct connection into processor 810, such as in a chipset architecture. Connection 805 may also be a virtual connection, a networked connection, or a logical connection.

[0103] In some embodiments, computing system 800 is a distributed system, where the functions described in this disclosure may be distributed within one data center, multiple data centers, a peer-to-peer network, etc. In some embodiments, one or more of the described system components represent many such components that each perform some or all of the functions that the component is described for. In some embodiments, the components may be physical devices or virtual devices.

[0104] Example system 800 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 810 and connection 805 that communicatively couples various system components including system memory 815 (such as read-only memory (ROM) 820 and random access memory (RAM) 825) to processor 810. Computing system 800 may include a cache 812 that is directly connected to, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of processor 810 for high-speed memory.

[0105] The processor 810 may include any general-purpose processor and hardware services or software services (such as services 832, 834, and 836 stored in the storage device 830 and configured to control the processor 810), as well as a dedicated processor in which software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. The processor 810 can be substantially a completely independent computing system that includes multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. The multi-core processor can be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0106] To enable user interaction, the computing system 800 includes an input device 845 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for voice, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, voice, etc. The computing system 800 may also include an output device 835 that can be one or more of a plurality of output mechanisms. In some cases, a multimode system may enable the user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 800.

[0107] The computing system 800 may include a communication interface 840 that generally can govern and manage user input and system output. The communication interface can execute or facilitate receiving and / or sending wired or wireless communications using wired and / or wireless transceivers, including using audio jack / plug, microphone jack / plug, universal serial bus (USB) port / plug, Apple TM Lightning TM port / plug, Ethernet port / plug, fiber optic port / plug, dedicated wired port / plug, 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular data network wireless signaling, Bluetooth TM wireless signaling, Bluetooth TM low-power (BLE) wireless signaling, iBeacon TMThose communications of wireless signal transmission, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless signal transmission, near field communication (NFC) wireless signal transmission, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transmission, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transmission, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transmission, visible light communication (VLC), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), infrared (IR) communication wireless signal transmission, public switched telephone network (PSTN) signal transmission, integrated services digital network (ISDN) signal transmission, ad hoc network signal transmission, radio wave signal transmission, microwave signal transmission, infrared signal transmission, visible light signal transmission, ultraviolet light signal transmission, wireless signal transmission along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. The communication interface 840 may also include one or more global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers or transceivers for determining the location of the computing system 800 based on one or more signals received from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the United States, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) of Russia, the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) of China, and Galileo GNSS of Europe. There are no restrictions on operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and thus the underlying features here can be easily replaced to obtain improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

[0108] The storage device 830 can be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable memory device and can be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium capable of storing data accessible by a computer, such as a cassette tape, flash memory card, solid state memory device, digital versatile disc, cartridge, floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magnetic stripe / magnetic strip, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, memristor memory, any other solid state memory, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) optical disc, rewritable compact disc (CD) optical disc, digital video disc (DVD) optical disc, Blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disc, holographic optical disc, another optical medium, secure digital (SD) card, micro secure digital (microSD) card, Memory Cards, smart card chips, EMV chips, subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, mini / micro / nano / pico SIM cards, other integrated circuit (IC) chips / cards, random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash EPROM (FLASH EPROM), cache memory (e.g., level 1 (L1) cache, level 2 (L2) cache, level 3 (L3) cache, level 4 (L4) cache, level 5 (L5) cache, or other (L#) cache), resistive random access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), other memory chips or cartridges and / or combinations thereof.

[0109] Storage device 830 may include software services, servers, services, etc., and when the code defining such software is executed by processor 810, the code causes the system to perform functions. In some embodiments, the hardware services that perform specific functions may include software components for performing the functions stored in a computer-readable medium connected to necessary hardware components such as processor 810, connection 805, output device 835, etc. The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing, or carrying instructions and / or data. The computer-readable medium may include non-transitory media in which data can be stored and which do not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals propagated wirelessly or via a wired connection. Examples of non-transitory media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic disks or tapes, optical storage media (such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), flash memory, memory or memory devices. The computer-readable medium may have code and / or machine-executable instructions stored thereon, and the code and / or machine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, function, subroutine, program, routine, subroutine, module, software package, classification, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. By passing and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents, a code segment may be coupled to another code segment or hardware circuit. The information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or sent via any suitable means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

[0110] Specific details are provided in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments and examples provided herein, but those skilled in the art will recognize that this application is not limited thereto. Thus, although the exemplary embodiments of this application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concept can be embodied and adopted in other various ways, and the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, unless limited by the prior art. The various features and aspects of the applications described above can be used singly or in combination. In addition, without departing from the broader scope of this specification, the embodiments can be used in any number of environments and applications beyond those described herein. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. For illustrative purposes, the methods are described in a particular order. It should be understood that in alternative embodiments, the methods can be performed in a different order than that described.

[0111] For clarity of explanation, in some instances, the present technology may be presented as including separate functional blocks that include devices, device components, steps, or routines in a method embodied in software or a combination of hardware and software. Additional components other than those shown in the figures and / or described herein may be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown in block diagram form as components to avoid obscuring these embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[0112] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0113] Individual embodiments may be described above as processes or methods depicted as flowcharts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, or block diagrams. Although a flowchart may describe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process is terminated when the operations of the process are completed, but the process may have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, the termination of the process may correspond to the function returning to the calling function or the main function.

[0114] The processes and methods according to the examples described above may be implemented using computer-executable instructions stored or otherwise available from a computer-readable medium. Such instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that cause or otherwise configure a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Portions of the computer resources used may be accessed via a network. The computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, source code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used to store instructions, the information used, and / or the information created during the methods according to the described examples include magnetic or optical disks, flash memory, USB devices with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, etc.

[0115] In some embodiments, computer-readable storage devices, media, and memories may include wires or wireless signals that contain bitstreams, etc. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readable storage media explicitly exclude media such as power consumption, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves.

[0116] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may in some cases be represented, in part, depending on the specific application, in part, depending on the desired design, in part, depending on the corresponding technology, etc., by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0117] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or any combination thereof, and may be in any of a variety of form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the program code or code segments (e.g., a computer program product) for performing the necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. The processor may execute the necessary tasks. Examples of form factors include: laptop devices, smart phones, mobile phones, tablet devices, or other small form factor personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mounted devices, stand-alone devices, etc. The functions described herein may also be embodied in peripheral devices or plug-in cards. By further example, such functionality may also be implemented on a circuit board in different chips or different processes executed on a single device.

[0118] Instructions, the medium for conveying such instructions, the computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example means for providing the functionality described in this disclosure.

[0119] The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices, such as general purpose computers, wireless communication device handsets, or integrated circuit devices with multiple uses, including applications in wireless communication device handsets and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be at least partially implemented by a computer-readable data storage medium including program code that includes instructions that, when executed, perform one or more of the methods, algorithms, and / or operations described above. The computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. The computer-readable medium may include a memory or data storage medium, such as random access memory (RAM) (such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the techniques may be at least partially implemented by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or conveys program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer, such as a propagated signal or wave.

[0120] The program code can be executed by a processor, which can include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuits. Such processors can be configured to perform any of the techniques described in this disclosure. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor; but in an alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Thus, as used herein, the term "processor" can refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or device suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.

[0121] Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that, without departing from the scope of this specification, the less than (″<″) and greater than (″>″) symbols or terms used herein can be replaced with less than or equal to (″≤″) and greater than or equal to (″≥″) symbols, respectively.

[0122] In cases where a component is described as being "configured to" perform certain operations, such a configuration can be implemented, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (such as a microprocessor or other suitable electronic circuit) to perform the operations, or any combination thereof.

[0123] The phrase "coupled to" or "communicatively coupled to" refers to any component being physically connected directly or indirectly to another component, and / or any component communicating directly or indirectly with another component (e.g., connected to the other component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0124] Claim language that recites "at least one" of a set and / or "one or more" of a set, or other language that indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfy the claim. For example, claim language that recites "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, claim language that recites "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, A and B and C, or any repetition is information or data (e.g., A and A, B and B, C and C, A and A and B, etc.), or any other ordering, repetition, or combination of A, B, and C. The language "at least one" of a set and / or "one or more" of a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, claim language that recites "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" can mean A, B, or A and B, and can additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B. The phrases "at least one" and "one or more" are used interchangeably herein.

[0125] Claim language that recites "at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to", "at least one processor being configured to", "one or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to", "one or more processors being configured to", etc., or other language that indicates that one processor or multiple processors (in any combination) can perform the associated operations. For example, claim language that recites "at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to: X, Y, and Z" means that the operations X, Y, and Z can be performed using a single processor; or multiple processors are each assigned a task of a particular subset of the operations X, Y, and Z such that the multiple processors together perform X, Y, and Z; or a group of multiple processors work together to perform the operations X, Y, and Z. In another example, claim language that recites "at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to: X, Y, and Z" can mean that any single processor can perform at least a subset of the operations X, Y, and Z.

[0126] In the case of referring to one or more elements that perform a function (e.g., a step of a method), one element may perform all functions, or more than one element may perform these functions jointly. When more than one element performs a function jointly, each function does not need to be performed by each of those elements (e.g., different functions may be performed by different elements) and / or each function does not need to be performed entirely by only one element (e.g., different elements may perform different sub - functions of the function). Similarly, in the case of referring to one or more elements that are configured to cause another element (e.g., a device) to perform a function, one element may be configured to cause another element to perform all functions, or more than one element may be configured jointly to cause another element to perform these functions.

[0127] In the case of referring to an entity that performs a function (e.g., a step of a method) or is configured to perform a function (e.g., any entity or device described herein), the entity may be configured to cause one or more elements (individually or jointly) to perform these functions. One or more components of the entity may include at least one memory, at least one processor, at least one communication interface, another component configured to perform one or more (or all) of the functions, and / or any combination thereof. In the case of referring to an entity that performs a function, the entity may be configured to cause one component to perform all functions, or to cause more than one component to perform these functions jointly. When the entity is configured to cause more than one component to perform a function jointly, each function does not need to be performed by each of those components (e.g., different functions may be performed by different components) and / or each function does not need to be performed entirely by only one component (e.g., different components may perform different sub - functions of the function).

[0128] Exemplary aspects of the present disclosure include:

[0129] Aspect 1. A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: at least one memory including instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: send a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the device does not have priority access; determine that the device is capable of using priority access; send a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the device has priority access; and use the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0130] Aspect 2. The device according to aspect 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the ability to use priority access based on an indication of network congestion.

[0131] Aspect 3. The apparatus according to aspect 2, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network, the message indicating that the wireless network is congested.

[0132] Aspect 4. The apparatus according to aspect 2, wherein the indication of network congestion includes non - response to the first RRC message.

[0133] Aspect 5. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, wherein the determination of being able to use priority access is based on user input received via a user interface.

[0134] Aspect 6. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to access stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value.

[0135] Aspect 7. The apparatus according to aspect 6, wherein the stored priority access configuration information is stored on one of a universal subscriber identity module or the at least one memory.

[0136] Aspect 8. The apparatus according to aspect 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a message including priority access configuration information; and cause the priority access configuration information to be stored in the at least one memory.

[0137] Aspect 9. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the first RRC message and the second RRC message include RRC connection request messages.

[0138] Aspect 10. The apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on a configured access class identification value.

[0139] Aspect 11. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: sending a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; determining that the apparatus is able to use priority access; sending a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and using the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0140] Aspect 12. The method according to aspect 11, wherein the determination of being able to use priority access is based on an indication of network congestion.

[0141] Aspect 13. The method according to aspect 12, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network, the message indicating that the wireless network is congested.

[0142] Aspect 14. The method according to aspect 12, wherein the indication of network congestion includes non - response to the first RRC message.

[0143] Aspect 15. The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 14, wherein the determination of being able to use priority access is based on user input received via a user interface.

[0144] Aspect 16. The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 15, the method further comprising: accessing stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value.

[0145] Aspect 17. The method according to aspect 16, wherein the stored priority access configuration information is stored on one of a universal subscriber identity module or at least one memory.

[0146] Aspect 18. The method according to aspect 17, the method further comprising: receiving a message including priority access configuration information; and storing the priority access configuration information in the at least one memory.

[0147] Aspect 19. The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 18, wherein the first RRC message and the second RRC message include RRC connection request messages.

[0148] Aspect 20. The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 19, wherein the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on a configured access category identification value.

[0149] Aspect 21. A non - transitory computer - readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to: send a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the device does not have priority access; determine that the device is able to use priority access; send a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the device has priority access; and use the priority access to access a wireless network.

[0150] Aspect 22. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to aspect 21, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to determine the ability to use priority access based on an indication of network congestion.

[0151] Aspect 23. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to aspect 22, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network, the message indicating that the wireless network is congested.

[0152] Aspect 24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to aspect 22, wherein the indication of network congestion includes non-response to the first RRC message.

[0153] Aspect 25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of aspects 21 to 24, wherein the determination of being able to use priority access is based on user input received via a user interface.

[0154] Aspect 26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of aspects 21 to 25, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to access stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value.

[0155] Aspect 27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to aspect 26, wherein the stored priority access configuration information is stored on one of a universal subscriber identity module or at least one memory.

[0156] Aspect 28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to aspect 27, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor: to receive a message including priority access configuration information; and to store the priority access configuration information in the at least one memory.

[0157] Aspect 29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of aspects 21 to 28, wherein the first RRC message and the second RRC message include RRC connection request messages.

[0158] Aspect 30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of aspects 21 to 29, wherein the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on configured access class identification values.

[0159] Aspect 31. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: means for sending a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; means for determining that the apparatus is able to use priority access; means for sending a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and means for accessing a wireless network using the priority access.

[0160] Aspect 32. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 30.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory including instructions; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: send a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; determine that the apparatus is able to use priority access; send a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and use the priority access to access a wireless network.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the ability to use priority access based on an indication of network congestion.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network, the message indicating that the wireless network is congested.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a lack of response to the first RRC message.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination of the ability to use priority access is based on user input received via a user interface.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to access stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the stored priority access configuration information is stored on either a Universal Subscriber Identity Module or the at least one memory.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a message including priority access configuration information; and cause the priority access configuration information to be stored in the at least one memory.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first RRC message and the second RRC message include RRC connection request messages.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on a configured access class identification value.

11. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: sending a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus does not have priority access; determining that the apparatus is able to use priority access; sending a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the apparatus has priority access; and using the priority access to access a wireless network.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the determination of the ability to use priority access is based on an indication of network congestion.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network, the message indicating that the wireless network is congested.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the indication of network congestion includes non - response to the first RRC message.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the determination of being able to use priority access is based on user input received via a user interface.

16. The method according to claim 11, the method further comprises: accessing stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the stored priority access configuration information is stored on either a universal subscriber identity module or at least one memory of the device.

18. The method according to claim 17, the method further comprises: receiving a message including priority access configuration information; and storing the priority access configuration information in the at least one memory.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first RRC message and the second RRC message include RRC connection request messages.

20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on a configured access class identification value.

21. A non - transitory computer - readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to: send a first radio resource control (RRC) message, the first RRC message including a first establishment cause value indicating that the device does not have priority access; determine that the device is able to use priority access; send a second RRC message, the second RRC message including a second establishment cause value indicating that the device has priority access; and use the priority access to access a wireless network.

22. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to determine being able to use priority access based on an indication of network congestion.

23. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 22, wherein the indication of network congestion includes a message received from the wireless network, the message indicating that the wireless network is congested.

24. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 22, wherein the indication of network congestion includes non - response to the first RRC message.

25. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the determination of being able to use priority access is based on user input received via a user interface.

26. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to access stored priority access configuration information to determine the value of the second establishment cause value.

27. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 26, wherein the stored priority access configuration information is stored on either a universal subscriber identity module or at least one memory.

28. The non - transitory computer - readable medium according to claim 27, wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to: receive a message including priority access configuration information; and Cause the priority access configuration information to be stored in the at least one memory.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the first RRC message and the second RRC message include an RRC connection request message.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the first establishment cause value and the second establishment cause value are determined based on a configured access class identification value.

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