Conditional inclusion of feature combinations in RA reports

Abstract

Methods and systems for RA optimization are described, such as by improving RA reporting as a basis for RA configuration optimization. Certain proposed embodiments include applying principles to new feature combination information that agrees to be included in the RA report that some information may be inferred without explicitly including in the RA report IE. One aspect is that when the two feature combinations are the same, one of the trigger feature combination and the feature combination information used is omitted in the RA report. Certain embodiments may also include a reduced way of capturing, in the RA report, instances in which the trigger feature combination changes during the random access procedure. Certain embodiments enable more information covering new features to be included in RA reports in a data efficient manner.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference of related information

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Priority Application No. 63 / 422,276, titled "Conditional Inclusion of Feature Combinations in RA Reports", filed on November 3, 2022. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and more particularly to cell reselection technologies. Background Art

[0004] RACH Configuration in NR

[0005] SIB1 (System Information Block 1), as part of the system information broadcast in a cell, includes configuration parameters that notify a UE of RA (Random Access) related resources and aspects related to the expected behavior of the UE in the context of the random access procedure. RA related configurations mainly include:

[0006] · PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) timing configuration in the time domain and frequency domain.

[0007] · Msg1 / MsgA subcarrier spacing.

[0008] · RA preamble range.

[0009] · SSB (Synchronization Signal Block) to RACH (Random Access Channel) timing and preamble set mapping.

[0010] · Some optional RA preamble partitioning information.

[0011] · Various parameters related to the behavior of the UE during the random access procedure, such as RA type (i.e., 4-step RA or 2-step RA) selection, RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) threshold, SSB selection RSRP threshold, RA response window, MsgB response window, contention resolution timer, power ramp step, number of MsgA transmissions before switching to 4-step RA, maximum number of RA preamble transmissions before aborting the RA procedure, etc.

[0012] · PUSCH configuration for the PUSCH part of MsgA in 2-step RA.

[0013] The IEs most relevant for NR (New Radio) RACH configuration are RACH-ConfigGeneric, RACH-ConfigCommon, RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStep-r16, and RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStep-r16. The first two configure the 4-step RA, while the latter two configure the 2-step RA. For the 2-step RA, the IEs (Information Elements) MsgA-ConfigCommon-r16 and MsgA-PUSCH-Config-r16 are also relevant. These IEs are all included in SIB1 in the broadcast system information (if the relevant RA type is supported in the cell). Additionally, in combination with handover (reconfiguration with sync), the UE can receive the RACH configuration for the target cell via dedicated signaling (in the handover command from the target gNB, i.e., RRCReconfiguration (Radio Resource Control Reconfiguration)). Then, this RACH configuration is conveyed in the RACH-ConfigDedicated IE.

[0014] The ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) definitions of these IEs, their respective associated field descriptions, and conditional presence interpretations are copied from 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0 and shown in Figure 1-19 . Figure 1 Shows the RACH-ConfigGeneric information element. Figure 2 Shows the RACH-ConfigGeneric field description. Figure 3 Shows the RACH-ConfigCommon information element. Figure 4 and Figure 5 Shows the RACH-ConfigCommon field description. Figure 6 Shows the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA information element. Figure 7 and Figure 8 Shows the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA field description. Figure 9 Shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA information element. Figure 10 and Figure 11 Shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA field description. Figure 12 Shows the MsgA-ConfigCommon information element and MsgA-ConfigCommon field description. Figure 13 Shows the MsgA-PUSCH-Config information element. Figure 14Shows the description of the MsgA-PUSCH-Config field. Figure 15 Shows the description of the MsgA-PUSCH-Resource field. Figure 16 Shows the description of the MsgA-DMRS-Config (MsgA Demodulation Reference Signal Configuration) field. Figure 17 Shows the RACH-ConfigDedicated information element. Figure 18 Shows the description of the CFRA-CSIRS-Resource (Contention-Free Random Access - Channel State Information Reference Signal Resource) field, the CFRA field description, and the CFRA-SSB-Resource (CFRA Synchronization Signal Block Resource) field description. Figure 19 Shows the description of the CFRA-TwoStep field and the RACH-ConfigDedicated field.

[0015] 4-step RA Procedure in NR

[0016] The 4-step method is used for the random access procedure in NR, see Figure 20 . In this method, the UE detects the synchronization signal (SS) and decodes the broadcast system information, and then sends a PRACH preamble (Message 1) on the uplink. The gNB (base station in NR) replies with an RAR (Random Access Response, Message 2). Then, the UE sends the UE identity (Message 3) on the PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel).

[0017] The UE sends the PUSCH (Message 3) after receiving the timing advance command in the RAR, which allows the PUSCH to be received with timing accuracy within the cyclic prefix. Without this timing advance, a very large CP (cyclic prefix) is required to be able to demodulate and detect the PUSCH, unless the system is applied to a cell with a very small distance between the UE and the eNB (Evolved Node B, or base station in LTE (Long-Term Evolution)). Since NR will also support larger cells that require providing timing advance to the UE, the 4-step method is required for the random access procedure.

[0018] NR Rel-15 PRACH Configuration

[0019] In NR, the time and frequency resources on which the PRACH preamble is sent are defined as the PRACH occasion.

[0020] For the present disclosure, the PRACH occasion is also referred to as the RACH occasion or RA occasion or simply RO. And the RO used to send the preamble in the 2-step RA is called the 2-step RO, while the RO used to send the preamble in the 4-step RA is called the 4-step RO.

[0021] The time resources and preamble formats for PRACH transmission are configured by a PRACH configuration index, which indicates the rows in the PRACH configuration tables specified in TS 38.211 Table 6.3.3.2-2, 6.3.3.2-3, and 6.3.3.2-4 for paired spectrum in FR1 (Frequency Range 1), unpaired spectrum in FR1, and FR2 (Frequency Range 2) with unpaired spectrum, respectively.

[0022] The portion of Table 6.3.3.2-3 for PRACH preamble format 0 for FR1 unpaired spectrum is replicated in Figure 21 where the value of x indicates the PRACH configuration period in terms of the number of system frames. The value of y indicates the system frame within each PRACH configuration period on which the PRACH occasion is configured. For example, if y is set to 0, it means the PRACH occasion is only configured in the first frame of each PRACH configuration period. The values in the "subframe number" column tell on which subframes the PRACH occasion is configured. The values in the "starting symbol" column are symbol indices.

[0023] In the case of TDD (Time Division Duplex), the semi-statically configured DL (Downlink) portion and / or the actually transmitted SSB can override some of the time-domain PRACH occasions defined in the PRACH configuration table and make them invalid. More specifically, the PRACH occasions in the UL (Uplink) portion are always valid, and the PRACH occasions within the X portion are valid as long as it is not before or in conflict with the SSB in the RACH slot and it is at least N symbols after the last symbol of the DL portion and the SSB. N is 0 or 2, depending on the PRACH format and subcarrier spacing.

[0024] In the frequency domain, NR supports multiple frequency-multiplexed PRACH occasions on the same time-domain PRACH occasion. This is mainly motivated by the support for analog beam scanning in NR, such that the PRACH occasions associated with one SSB are configured at the same time instance but at different frequency positions. The number of PRACH occasions with FDM in one time-domain PRACH occasion can be 1, 2, 4, or 8. Figure 22 An example of PRACH occasion configuration in NR is given.

[0025] In NR Rel-15, up to 64 sequences can exist in each cell that can be used as random access preambles for each PRACH occasion. The RRC parameter totalNumberOfRA-Preambles determines how many of these 64 sequences are used as random access preambles for each PRACH occasion in each cell. The 64 sequences are configured by first including all available cyclic shifts of the root Zadoff-Chu sequence and secondly in ascending order of the root index until 64 preambles have been generated for the PRACH occasion.

[0026] NR Rel-15 Association between SSB and PRACH Occasions

[0027] NR Rel-15 supports one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one associations between SSB and PRACH occasions, as Figure 23 and Figure 24 illustrated.

[0028] When the UE detects an optimal SSB beam, a preamble from the set of one or more preambles mapped to that SSB will be selected for random access, and then when the gNB detects that preamble, the optimal SSB beam for that UE is indirectly known, such that the optimal beam can be used to send signals to or receive signals from that UE.

[0029] The preambles associated with each SSB are configured by two RRC parameters in RACH-ConfigCommon: ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB and totalNumberOfRA-Preambles.

[0030] Section 8.1 of TS 38.213 specifies the detailed mapping rules as follows:

[0031] · Through ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB, the UE is provided with N SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) blocks associated with one PRACH occasion, and R contention-based preambles per SS / PBCH block for each valid PRACH occasion. If N < 1, one SS / PBCH block is mapped to 1 / N consecutive valid PRACH occasions, and the R contention-based preambles with consecutive indices associated with the SS / PBCH block for each valid PRACH occasion start from preamble index 0. If N ≥ 1, the R contention-based preambles with consecutive indices associated with SS / PBCH block n (0 ≤ n ≤ N - 1) for each valid PRACH occasion start from preamble index starting, where Provided by totalNumberOfRA - Preambles and is an integer multiple of N.

[0032] In other words, the mapping between SSB and preambles is done by associating M preambles continuously to each SSB, where M = / , and as Figure 25 illustrated, the preambles are taken in the following order:

[0033] · First, in ascending order of preamble index within a single PRACH occasion;

[0034] · Second, for frequency - multiplexed PRACH occasions, in ascending order of frequency - resource index; and

[0035] · Third, in ascending order of time.

[0036] For each SSB, the associated preambles of each PRACH occasion are further divided into two sets for CBRA (Contention - Based Random Access) and for CFRA. The number of CB (Code Block) preambles per SSB per PRACH occasion is signaled by the RRC (Radio Resource Control) parameter #CB - preambles - per - SSB. As Figure 26 illustrated, for an SSB in a PRACH occasion, the preamble indices for CBRA and CFRA are mapped continuously.

[0037] 2-step RA Procedure in 3GPP Release 16

[0038] The 2 - step RACH work item has been approved in the RAN1#82 plenary session. Completing the initial access in only two steps is Figure 27 illustrated in:

[0039] · Step 1: The UE sends Message A (abbreviated as "MsgA" or "msgA" - these two abbreviations can be used interchangeably in this disclosure), which includes a random access preamble and higher - layer data, such as an RRC connection request, and

[0040] may have some small payload on the PUSCH;

[0041] · Step 2: The gNB sends an RAR (Random Access Response) (actually called Message B (abbreviated as "MsgB" or

[0042] "msgB" - these two abbreviations are used interchangeably in this document)), which includes UE identifier assignment, timing advance information, and contention resolution messages, etc.

[0043] MsgA Preamble Configuration

[0044] The RACH opportunity for 2-step RACH can be configured separately (also known as type 2 random access procedure with a PRACH opportunity configuration separate from that of type 1 random access procedure), or shared with 4-step RACH (also known as type 2 random access procedure with a PRACH opportunity configuration common to that of type 1 random access procedure). In this case, different sets of preamble IDs will be used.

[0045] For a type 2 random access procedure with a PRACH opportunity configuration common to that of type 1 random access procedure, the UE is provided with N SS / PBCH blocks associated with a PRACH opportunity by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB, and Q contention-based preambles per SS / PBCH block for each valid PRACH opportunity by MsgA-CB-PreamblesPerSSB. For a UE provided with a PRACH mask index by MsgA-ssb-sharedRO-MaskIndex, PRACH transmission can be performed on a subset of PRACH opportunities associated with the same SS / PBCH block index. Examples of SSB to RO mapping and preamble allocation are provided in Figure 28 Note that only one preamble group is assumed in this example.

[0046] For a type 2 random access procedure with a PRACH opportunity configuration separate from that of type 1 random access procedure, the UE is provided with N SS / PBCH blocks associated with a PRACH opportunity and R contention-based preambles per SS / PBCH block for each valid PRACH opportunity by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB-MsgA (when provided); otherwise, the UE is provided by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB. Since the SSB to RO mapping and preamble allocation are configured independently, Figure 28 the example provided for 4-step RACH in

[0047] MsgA PUSCH Configuration

[0048] The PUSCH occasion (PO) is defined as the time-frequency resource for a PUSCH transmission. For a MsgA PUSCH occasion, one or more DMRS resources can be configured, and one of the DMRS resources will be selected for each PUSCH transmission within the PUSCH occasion. The term PUSCH resource unit (PRU) is used in this disclosure to define a PUSCH occasion with one DMRS resource.

[0049] The set of PUSCH occasions is configured for each MsgA PUSCH configuration, and the set of PUSCH occasions is associated with and mapped by a set of preambles in the RO set within a PRACH slot. The mapping between one or more PRACH preambles and the PUSCH occasions associated with the DMRS resources is according to the mapping order described below.

[0050] Every consecutive N preamble preamble indices from the valid PRACH occasions within a PRACH slot can be arranged as:

[0051] · First, within a single PRACH occasion, in ascending order of the preamble index;

[0052] · Second, for frequency-multiplexed PRACH occasions, in ascending order of the frequency resource index;

[0053] · Third, for PRACH occasions time-multiplexed within a PRACH slot, in ascending order of the time resource index.

[0054] Then these are mapped to the valid PUSCH occasions and the associated DMRS resources:

[0055] · First, for frequency-multiplexed PUSCH occasions, in ascending order of the frequency resource index f id ;

[0056] · Second, within the PUSCH occasion, in ascending order of the DMRS resource index, where the DMRS resource index DMRS is determined first in ascending order of the DMRS port index and second in ascending order of the DMRS sequence index id ;

[0057] · Third, for time-multiplexed PUSCH occasions within a PUSCH slot, in ascending order of the time resource index t id ;

[0058] · Fourth, in ascending order of the index for N s PUSCH slots.

[0059] Here, N preamble = ceil(T preamble / T PUSCH ),T preamble is the total number of valid PRACH occasions for each associated mode period multiplied by the number of preambles for each valid PRACH occasion provided by MsgA - PUSCH - PreambleGroup, and T PUSCH is the total number of valid PUSCH occasions for each PUSCH configuration for each associated mode period multiplied by the number of DMRS resource indices for each valid PUSCH occasion provided by MsgA - DMRS - Config.

[0060] RA Partitioning to Support Feature Signaling

[0061] For some features, there is already a need for the UE to provide an indication to the network during the random access procedure. For example, the UE may need to indicate that the UE is of a certain type or that the UE wants to apply a feature. For example, 3GPP has concluded that a reduced - capability UE (sometimes referred to as a RedCap UE) can benefit from indicating to the network during the random access procedure that the UE is a RedCap UE rather than a non - RedCap UE. Another example of such a feature is an indication from the UE as to whether the UE wants to use the small data transmission (SDT) feature.

[0062] To provide such an indication during the random access procedure, it has been discussed that the random access resources should be partitioned such that one partition can be dedicated to RedCap UEs and another partition for non - RedCap UEs.

[0063] The system can support several features that require indication during the random access procedure. For example, both RedCap (reduced - capability) and SDT (small data transmission) are supported. This means that there will be several partitions to indicate combinations of features, such as:

[0064] · One partition for non - RedCap UEs that do not want to apply SDT;

[0065] · One partition for non - RedCap UEs that want to apply SDT;

[0066] · One partition for RedCap UEs that do not want to apply SDT;

[0067] · One partition for RedCap UEs that want to apply SDT.

[0068] The partitioning of RA resources can be implemented as a partitioning of the range of preambles available in a cell. Additionally, such a preamble partitioning can be effective only in a subset of the RA occasions. That is, one set of preambles is dedicated to one feature (or combination of features), optionally limited to a specific subset of the RA occasions. Similarly, another set of preambles is dedicated to another feature (or another combination of features), optionally limited to a specific subset of the RA occasions.

[0069] If the network supports such preamble-based signaling for a combination of features in a specific cell (where the combination of features can consist of one or more features), the configuration of these mechanisms is indicated in SIB1 in the system information broadcast in the cell (in the FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE in the RACH-ConfigCommon IE and (if present) the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA-r16 IE). The FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE configures a feature combination preamble partitioning, and Figure 29 shows its ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0 (and Figure 30 the field description in).

[0070] As can be seen above, FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 includes the FeatureCombination-r17IE. FeatureCombination-r17 indicates the combination of features to which FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 applies. The ASN.1 code is shown in the Figure 31 (and Figure 32A - 32C the field description in) of the FeatureCombination-r17 IE in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0.

[0071] SIB1 also includes the priority (in the form of FeaturePriority-r17 IE) for each feature mapped to at least one FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE. These priorities are used to determine which RA preamble partition (i.e., which FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE) the UE should use when the triggered feature is mapped to more than one RA preamble partition (i.e., more than one FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE), or when no configured RA preamble partition (i.e., no FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE) is associated with the feature combination (i.e., FeatureCombination-r17 IE) that includes all the features of the feature combination that triggers the RA procedure in the UE.

[0072] If a UE that intends to initiate a random access procedure needs to (or would benefit from) signaling to the network the feature or feature combination that triggers the random access, the UE selects a preamble from the RA preamble partition associated with the feature combination that includes the triggered feature (or triggered feature combination) if such an RA preamble range partition is configured in the cell. If a feature combination triggers a random access procedure in the UE and there is no configured RA partition associated with the feature combination that includes all the UE-triggered features, or if the feature or feature combination that triggers the random access procedure in the UE is mapped to more than one configured RA partition, the UE checks the priorities associated with the triggered feature and selects an RA preamble partition based on these priorities.

[0073] RA Optimization

[0074] The RACH configuration has a crucial impact on the user experience and overall network performance. The RACH collision probability, and thus, the access setup delay, the data recovery delay from UL asynchronous state, the handover delay, the transition delay from RRC_INACTIVE, and the beam failure recovery delay are all affected by the RA configuration, including the RACH setup and the preamble index configuration. Additionally, it is important to perform RA on the most suitable downlink beam and this will avoid unnecessary power ramps and failed RA attempts. This is beneficial for both the network and the attempting device; it allows avoiding unnecessary interference in the network and also allows reducing the experienced delay and UE power consumption. In NR, new features allow the UE to use dedicated RA resources depending on various factors such as the service that triggers the RA procedure, which results in more complex behavior.

[0075] The setting of RA parameters depends on various factors, such as:

[0076] · Uplink inter-cell interference from the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH);

[0077] · RACH load (call arrival rate, HO rate, tracking area update, RRC_INACTIVE / RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED state transition rate, frequency of requests for other SI, beam failure recovery rate, inactivity timer setting, traffic pattern and number of people under cell coverage as it affects UL synchronization status and thus affects

[0078] the need to use random access);

[0079] · Uplink (UL) and Supplementary Uplink (SUL) imbalance;

[0080] · PUSCH load;

[0081] · Cubic metric of the preambles allocated to the cell;

[0082] · Whether the cell is in high-speed mode;

[0083] · Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) imbalance.

[0084] The objectives of RA optimization are indicated as follows:

[0085] · Minimize the access delay of the UE under the coverage of the popular SSB;

[0086] · Minimize the delay of the UE requesting other SI;

[0087] · Minimize the imbalance of the access delay of the UE on the uplink (UL) and supplementary uplink (SUL) channels;

[0088] · Minimize the beam failure recovery delay of the UE in the RRC_CONNECTED state;

[0089] · Minimize the failures / unnecessary RA attempts (consuming RA resources) before success.

[0090] Therefore, the RA optimization function will attempt to automatically set several parameters related to the performance of RA. By collecting RA reports from the UE and through the exchange of PRACH parameters between gNBs, automatic RA parameter setting can be enabled.

[0091] The settings of RA parameters that can be optimized are, for example:

[0092] · RACH configuration (resource element allocation);

[0093] · RA preamble segmentation (between dedicated, group A, and group B);

[0094] · RA backoff parameter value;

[0095] · RA transmit power control parameter.

[0096] As a minimum requirement, RA optimization is achieved by the UE providing RA-related information to the NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) node and by the NG-RAN nodes exchanging PRACH configurations for normal UL carriers and SUL carriers.

[0097] For a CU-DU (Central Unit - Distributed Unit) architecture, the gNB-DU should be allowed to report its RA configuration for each cell to the gNB-CU, and the gNB-CU should be allowed to signal the RA configuration of each served cell to adjacent NG-RAN nodes. This allows the NG-RAN nodes to identify whether the RA configuration of adjacent cells is optimized or whether it needs to be changed to achieve better RA coordination between adjacent cells.

[0098] After receiving a polling message (e.g., UEInformationRequest RRC message) requesting an RA report from an NG-RAN node (potentially, the gNB-CU of the current serving cell), the UE reports RA information within the UEInformationResponse RRC message. The gNB-CU and gNB-DU consider the RA report and other node information to achieve an optimized RA configuration.

[0099] The content of the RA report includes the following:

[0100] · Cell ID;

[0101] · Purpose of the RA;

[0102] · Various RA configuration parameters (including 4-step RA configuration and / or 2-step RA configuration parameters);

[0103] · Index of the SSB and the number of RA preambles sent on each attempted SSB listed in chronological order of attempts

[0104] ;

[0105] · Frequency of the attempted SSB (NR ARFCN (Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number));

[0106] · Beam quality of each attempted SSB (e.g., beam level measurements during RA attempts such as BRSRP (Beam Reference Signal Received Power), BRSRQ (Beam Reference Signal Received Quality), BSINR (Beam Signal-to-Interference

[0107] and Noise Ratio));

[0108] · An indication of whether the selected SSB is above or below the rsrp-ThresholdSSB threshold;

[0109] · The time elapsed since the last measurement before the beam selection time;

[0110] · The number of RA preambles sent on SUL;

[0111] · The number of RA preambles sent on NUL;

[0112] · The total number of contention-free random access (CFRA) attempts and contention-based random access (CBRA) attempts;

[0113] · 4-step RA attempts and 2-step RA attempts;

[0114] · Fallback from 2-step RA to 4-step RA;

[0115] · Whether contention is detected for each RA attempt.

[0116] In addition, at the RAN2#119bis meeting, it was agreed to further include the following information in the RA report:

[0117] · The feature or combination of features that triggered RA in the UE (if the UE uses RA preambles signaled to support specific features, this applies);

[0118] · The combination of features used (i.e., the combination of features associated with the RA preamble partition from which the UE selects the RA preamble - this applies when the UE uses RA preambles signaled to support specific features).

[0119] · The combination of features used (i.e., the combination of features associated with the RA preamble partition from which the UE selects the RA preamble - this applies when the UE uses RA preambles signaled to support specific features).

[0120] The above RA report should also apply to the secondary node (SN) for the MR-DC (Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity) case.

[0121] In the case of a successful RA procedure, the network can request the RA report via the UE information procedure in RRC (Section 5.7.10.3 of TS 38.331 version 17.2.0). In addition, Section 5.7.10.5 of TS 38.331 version 17.2.0 specifies what information the UE includes in the RA report.

[0122] In 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0, the RA report is specified in the ASN.1 code in the form of the RA-Report-r16 IE. It is part of the ASN.1 code for the UEInformationResponse message. The part of the ASN.1 code (and the associated field descriptions) related to the RA report is inFigure 32A - 32C is shown (note that most of the ASN.1 code and field descriptions have been omitted as they are not relevant in the context of this disclosure). Figure 33 shows the UEInformationResponse-IE field description and the RA-InformationCommon field description. Figure 34A and 34B shows the RA-Report field description. Summary of the Invention

[0123] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, it includes a method for optimizing RA configuration performed by a UE. The method includes detecting a trigger condition for initiating an RA process, the trigger condition being based on a trigger feature combination including a first one or more features; and selecting an RA preamble from an RA preamble partition, the RA preamble partition being associated with a used feature combination including a second one or more features. The method further includes sending an RA report to a network node, wherein when the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are different, both of them are included in the RA report.

[0124] Another embodiment of the method under the present disclosure is a method for optimizing RA configuration performed by a network node. The method includes receiving an RA report from a UE when a trigger condition occurs, wherein the trigger condition is based on a trigger feature combination including a first one or more features, and wherein the RA report includes an RA preamble partition associated with a used feature combination including a second one or more features, wherein when the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are different, both of them are included in the RA report.

[0125] This summary is provided to introduce a selected set of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an indication of the scope of the claimed subject matter. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0126] To more fully understand the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0127] Figure 1 shows the RACH-ConfigGeneric information element;

[0128] Figure 2 shows the RACH-ConfigGeneric field description;

[0129] Figure 3 Show the RACH-ConfigCommon information element;

[0130] Figure 4 Show the RACH-ConfigCommon field description;

[0131] Figure 5 Show the RACH-ConfigCommon field description;

[0132] Figure 6 Show the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA information element;

[0133] Figure 7 Show the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA field description;

[0134] Figure 8 Show the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA field description;

[0135] Figure 9 Show the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA information element;

[0136] Figure 10 shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA field description;

[0137] Figure 11 Show the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA field description;

[0138] Figure 12 Show the MsgA-ConfigCommon information element and MsgA-ConfigCommon field description;

[0139] Figure 13 Show the MsgA-PUSCH-Config information element;

[0140] Figure 14 Show the MsgA-PUSCH-Config field description;

[0141] Figure 15 Show the MsgA-PUSCH-Resource field description;

[0142] Figure 16 Show the MsgA-DMRS-Config (MsgA demodulation reference signal configuration) field description;

[0143] Figure 17Shows the RACH-ConfigDedicated information element;

[0144] Figure 18 Shows the CFRA-CSIRS-Resource (Contention-Free Random Access - Channel State Information Reference Signal Resource) field description, CFRA field description, and CFRA-SSB-Resource (CFRA Synchronization Signal Block Resource) field description;

[0145] Figure 19 Shows the CFRA-TwoStep field description and RACH-ConfigDedicated field description;

[0146] Figure 20 Shows the 4-step method for random access procedures in NR;

[0147] Figure 21 Shows the part of Table 6.3.3.2-3 for PRACH preamble format 0 for FR1 unpaired spectrum;

[0148] Figure 22 Gives an example of PRACH timing configuration in NR;

[0149] Figure 23 Shows the one-to-one association between SSB and PRACH timing under NR Rel-15;

[0150] Figure 24 Shows the many-to-one association between SSB and PRACH timing under NR Rel-15;

[0151] Figure 25 Illustrates the mapping between SSB and preambles by associating M preambles continuously to each SSB;

[0152] Figure 26 Illustrates the preamble indices for CBRA and CFRA that are continuously mapped to an SSB in one PRACH timing;

[0153] Figure 27 Shows the 2-step RACH initial access from the RAN1#82 plenary session;

[0154] Figure 28 Shows an example of SSB to RO mapping and preamble allocation;

[0155] Figure 29 Shows the ASN.1 code of the FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE that configures a feature combination preamble partition in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0156] Figure 30 Shows the field description of the FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE that configures a feature combination preamble partition in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0157] Figure 31 Shows the ASN.1 code for the FeatureCombination-r17 IE in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0158] Figure 32 shows the field description of the FeatureCombination-r17 IE in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0159] Figure 33 Shows the UEInformationResponse-IE field description and the RA-InformationCommon field description;

[0160] Figure 34A - 34B Shows the RA-Report field description;

[0161] Figure 35 Shows an example according to the present disclosure that includes feature combination information at the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0162] Figure 36 Shows an example according to the present disclosure that includes feature combination information in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0163] Figure 37 Shows an example according to the present disclosure that includes feature combination information in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0;

[0164] Figure 38 Shows an example method embodiment according to the present disclosure;

[0165] Figure 39 Shows a schematic diagram of a communication system embodiment according to the present disclosure;

[0166] Figure 40 Shows a schematic diagram of a user equipment embodiment according to the present disclosure;

[0167] Figure 41 A schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a network node according to the present disclosure;

[0168] Figure 42 A schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a host according to the present disclosure;

[0169] Figure 43 A schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a virtualized environment according to the present disclosure; and

[0170] Figure 44 A schematic representation showing an embodiment of communication between a node, a host, and a user equipment according to the present disclosure. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0171] Before describing in detail various embodiments of the present disclosure, it will be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the parameters of the specifically illustrated systems, methods, apparatuses, products, processes, and / or kits, and of course, these parameters may vary. Thus, although certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to specific configurations, parameters, components, elements, etc., these descriptions are illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed embodiments. Additionally, the terms used herein are for the purpose of describing the embodiments and are not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claimed embodiments.

[0172] There are certain challenges currently in the prior art. As mentioned above, regarding RA optimization, in order to further improve the RA report (e.g., RA-Report-r16 IE) that is the basis for RA configuration optimization, 3GPP has (at the RAN2#119bis meeting) agreed that a UE that has used an RA preamble from a feature combination RA preamble partition should include in the corresponding RA report an indication of both the feature combination (which may be one or more features) that triggered the UE to initiate a random access procedure (denoted as the "trigger feature combination") and the feature combination (which may be one or more features) associated with the RA preamble partition from which the UE selected the RA preamble it used (denoted as the "used feature combination"). The RA-Report-r16 IE can potentially contain a large amount of data, and as new features are introduced into the network, more information is included in the RA-Report-r16 IE (like the feature combination information mentioned above), which means that the signaling overhead may become undesirably large.

[0173] Certain aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure can provide solutions to these or other challenges. Certain proposed embodiments can address the above problems by applying a principle to the new feature combination information agreed to be included in the RA report, under which some information can be inferred without explicitly including it in the RA report IE.

[0174] Accordingly, an aspect of some of the proposed embodiments described herein is that when two feature combinations are the same, one of the triggering feature combination and the used feature combination information in the RA report is omitted. Some embodiments may also include a lean way of capturing in the RA report the case where the triggering feature combination changes during the random access procedure.

[0175] Some embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. Some embodiments enable more information covering new features to be included in the RA report in a data - efficient manner. For some of the embodiments proposed in this disclosure, the amount of data bits to be recorded by the UE will be half of that of the RA report method that does not utilize the embodiments described herein, especially when the set of triggering features and the used feature combination are the same.

[0176] Some of the embodiments envisioned herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0177] For the purposes of this disclosure, the terms "random access preamble", "RA preamble", and "preamble" are used interchangeably. The term "feature combination" as used herein refers to a set of features that includes one or more features. This disclosure includes certain descriptions regarding NR and the RA - Report - r16 IE in the 3GPP standards for NR. However, the principles of the described embodiments apply equally to LTE (or other RATs or standards), RACH - Report - r16 IE, or new versions of this IE, such as RACH - Report - r18 IE or RACH - Report - r19 IE.

[0178] One way to address the above - mentioned problem is to try to determine ways in which some of the information in the RA - Report - r16 IE can be inferred (without including one or more parameters that explicitly provide this information). Modifying the existing content of the RA - Report - r16 IE to achieve this may lead to backward - compatibility issues, and thus it is preferred to target new information that is planned to be included in the RA - Report - r16 IE but for which its inclusion also needs to be specified.

[0179] Some embodiments of this disclosure may include applying such principles to the feature combination information that is agreed to be included in the RA - Report - r16 IE in version 18 of the 3GPP standard, such as the following two information items:

[0180] · The feature or feature combination that triggers RA in the UE - "triggering feature combination" (applicable when the UE uses an RA preamble supported by signaling a particular feature).

[0181] · Feature combination used - The feature combination associated with the RA preamble partition from which the UE selects an RA preamble, e.g., "Feature combination used" (applicable when the UE uses an RA preamble signaled with specific features).

[0182] The first observation is that these information items are applicable only when the UE has used an RA preamble from the RA preamble partition used to signal feature combination support (i.e., associated with the feature combination). Therefore, in order not to unnecessarily increase the size of the RA-Report-r16 IE, both of these information items should be optional in the RA-Report-r16 IE.

[0183] The second relevant observation in this context is that the feature combination that triggers the RA procedure in the UE may or may not perfectly match the feature combination used (i.e., be the same as the feature combination used). The above two information items may be the same in some cases and different in other cases. This observation can be exploited to make the presence of one of the information items in the RA-Report-r16 IE - optional not only based on the use of the RA preamble partition associated with the feature combination - but also dependent on the presence of the other of the two information items. To this end, if the UE selects an RA preamble from the RA preamble partition associated with the feature combination and one of the two relevant information items is present in the RA-Report-r16 IE, then the other of the two relevant information items can be omitted from the RA-Report-r16 IE if the other of the two relevant information items is the same as the present information item, but if the two information items are different, they should both be included in the RA-Report-r16 IE.

[0184] For example, if the triggered feature combination information is present in the RA-Report-r16 IE and the used feature combination information is the same, the used feature combination information can be omitted, and the receiver of the RA-Report-r16 IE (e.g., gNB) can thereby infer that the used feature combination is the same as the triggered feature combination. Similarly, as another example, if the used feature combination information is present in the RA-Report-r16 IE and the triggered feature combination information is the same, the used feature combination information can be omitted, and the receiver of the RA-Report-r16 IE (e.g., gNB) can thereby infer that the triggered feature combination is the same as the used feature combination.

[0185] Note that when the UE records information related to the RA procedure in the UE internal variable VarRA-Report-r16 specified in Section 7.4 of 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0 (for the purpose of sending it to the network in the form of one or more RA reports later), the UE preferably applies the above method for triggering feature combination and / or optional and conditional reporting of the used feature combination.

[0186] The triggered feature combination and the used feature combination can be included once in the RA-Report-r16 IE, i.e., once per RA procedure, for example, included in the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. Alternatively, the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination can be included in the RA-Report-r16 IE for each RA attempt, for example, in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE. As another alternative, the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination can be included in a way corresponding to a subset of the RA attempts in the RA procedure, for example, by including them in the PerRAInfo-r16 IE or in the PerRASSBInfo-r16 IE and PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16 IE (or, since these three IEs lack extension readiness, including the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination in a new IE regarding which RA attempts the information belongs to corresponding to these IEs).

[0187] Since the typical case can be assumed that the triggered feature combination remains the same across all RA attempts during the RA procedure (and thus the used feature combination also remains the same), the most data-efficient alternative is to include the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination only once per RA procedure, i.e., only once per RA-Report-r16 IE. However, even though this is good for the typical case, it would mean that information is lost in the atypical case where the triggered feature combination (and thus potentially also the used feature combination) changes during the RA procedure. Therefore, including the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination in the RA-Report-r16 IE for each RA attempt (i.e., in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE) also has its advantages.

[0188] Note, however, that regardless of the location and number of times the feature combination is included in the RA report, some proposed methods that include only one of the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination (out of each pair of triggered feature combination and used feature combination) apply when the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination are the same.

[0189] Including the feature combination information at the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE can be implemented as shown in the highlighted language in, for example, the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0. Figure 35 as shown in the highlighted language.

[0190] Including the feature combination information in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE can be implemented as shown in the highlighted language in, for example, the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0. Figure 36 as shown in the highlighted language.

[0191] A non-limiting example implementation of the proposed method in the procedure text of 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.1.0 is highlighted and underlined in the following excerpt:

[0192] RA information determination for RA reporting and RLF reporting

[0193] The UE shall set the content in ra-InformationCommon as follows:

[0194] 1. Set absoluteFrequencyPointA to indicate the absolute frequency of the reference resource block associated with the random access resource used in the random access procedure;

[0195] 1. Set locationAndBandwidth and subcarrierSpacing associated with the UL BWP of the random access resource used in the random access procedure;

[0196] 1. If contention-based random access resources are used in the random access procedure:

[0197] 2. If two-step random access resources are used in the random access procedure, set msgA_RO-FrequencyStart, msgA-RO-FDM, and msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the two-step random access resources;

[0198] 2. If msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the two-step random access resources used in the random access procedure is available:

[0199] 3. Set msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the two-step random access resources used in the random access procedure;

[0200] 2> Otherwise, if only two-step random access resources are available in the UL BWP used in the random access procedure:

[0201] 3> Set msgA-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex to the subcarrier spacing derived from the msgA-PRACH-ConfigurationIndex used in the two-step random access procedure;

[0202] 2> Otherwise:

[0203] 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the four-step random access resources used in the random access procedure;

[0204] 2> Set msg1-FrequencyStart associated with the four-step random access resources if the four-step random access resources are used in the random access procedure and if its value is different from the value of msgA-RO-FrequencyStart (if it is included in ra-InformationCommon);

[0205] 2> Set msg1-FDM associated with the four-step random access resources if the four-step random access resources are used in the random access procedure and if its value is different from the value of msgA-RO-FDMCFRA (if it is included in ra-InformationCommon);

[0206] 2> If msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the four-step random access resources used in the random access procedure is available and if its value is different from the value of msgA-SubcarrierSpacing (if it is included in ra-InformationCommon):

[0207] 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the four-step random access resources used in the random access procedure;

[0208] 2> Otherwise:

[0209] 3> Set msg1-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex to the subcarrier spacing derived from the prach-ConfigurationIndex used in the four-step random access procedure and if its value is different from the value of msgA-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex (if it is included in ra-InformationCommon

[0210] in China);

[0211] 1> If contention-free random access resources are used in the random access procedure:

[0212] 2> If 4-step random access resources are used in the random access procedure, set msg1-FrequencyStartCFRA and msg1-FDMCFRA associated with the 4-step random access resources;

[0213] 2> If msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 4-step random access resources used in the random access procedure is available:

[0214] 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacingCFRA associated with the 4-step random access resources used in the random access procedure;

[0215] 2> Otherwise:

[0216] 3> Set msg1-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndexCFRA to the subcarrier spacing derived from prach-ConfigurationIndex used in the 4-step random access procedure;

[0217] 2> If contention-free 2-step random access resources are used in the random access procedure, set msgA-RO-FrequencyStartCFRA and msgA-RO-FDMCFRA associated with the contention-free 2-step random access resources;

[0218] 2> If 2-step random access resources are used in the random access procedure, set msgA-MCS, nrofPRBs-PerMsgA-PO, msgA-PUSCH-TimeDomainAllocation,

[0219] frequencyStartMsgA-PUSCH, nrofMsgA-PO-FDM;

[0220] 2> If msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 2-step random access resources used in the random access procedure is available:

[0221] 3> Set msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 2-step random access resources used in the random access procedure;

[0222] 2> Otherwise, if only 2-step random access resources are available in the UL BWP used in the random access procedure:

[0223] 3> Set msgA-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex to the subcarrier spacing derived from msgA-PRACH-ConfigurationIndex used in the 2-step random access procedure;

[0224] 2> Otherwise:

[0225] 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 4-step random access resources used in the random access procedure; 1> If the random access procedure is initialized with RA_TYPE set to 2-stepRA as described in TS 38.321 [3]:

[0226] 2> Set dlPathlossRSRP to the measured RSRP of the DL path loss reference obtained during the RA_Type selection phase of the initialization of the RA procedure as recorded in TS 38.321 [3];

[0227] 2> If the configuration msgA-TransMax for random access is configured in RACH-ConfigDedicated used for this random access procedure and ra-Purpose is set to reconfigurationWithSync:

[0228] 3> Set msgA-TransMax to the value of msgA-TransMax in RACH-ConfigDedicated;

[0229] 2> Otherwise, if msgA-TransMax is configured in RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA:

[0230] 3> Set msgA-TransMax to the value of msgA-TransMax in RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA;

[0231] 2> Set msgA-PUSCH-PayloadSize to the size of the total available payload in the UE buffer when initiating the 2-step RA procedure;

[0232] 1> If the purpose of the random access procedure is to request on-demand system information (i.e., if raPurpose is set to requestForOtherSI or msg3RequestForOtherSI):

[0233] 2> Set intendedSIBs to indicate the (one or more) SIBs that the UE wants to receive as a result of the SI request;

[0234] 2> Set ssbsForSI-Acquisition to indicate the (one or more) SSBs used for receiving SI messages;

[0235] 2> If the on-demand system information acquisition is successful:

[0236] 3> Set onDemandSISuccess to true;

[0237] 1> Set the parameters associated with each individual random access attempt in the perRAInfoList in the chronological order of the attempts as follows:

[0239] 2> If the random access resource used is associated with an SS / PBCH block, set the random access parameters associated with consecutive random access attempts for the same SS / PCCH block used for one or more random access attempts as follows:

[0240] 3> Set ssb-Index to include the SS / PBCH block index associated with the random access resource used;

[0241] 3> Set numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB to indicate the number of consecutive random access attempts associated with the SS / PBCH block;

[0242] 3> For each random access attempt performed on the random access resource, include the following parameters in the chronological order of the random access attempts:

[0243] 4> If the random access attempt is performed on a contention-based random access resource and if raPurpose is not equal to'requestForOtherSI', then include contentionDetected as follows:

[0244] 5> If the contention resolution for the transmitted preamble is not successful as specified in TS 38.321 [6]:

[0245] 6> Set contentionDetected to true;

[0246] 5> Otherwise:

[0247] 6> Set contentionDetected to false;

[0248] 4> If the random access attempt is a two-step random access attempt:

[0249] 5> If a fallback from two-step random access to four-step random access occurs during the random access attempt:

[0250] 6> Set fallbackToFourStepRA to true;

[0251] 4> If the random access attempt is performed on contention-based random access resources; or

[0252] 4> If the random access attempt is performed on contention-free random access resources and if the random access procedure is initiated due to a PDCCH command:

[0253] 5> If the random access attempt is a four-step random access attempt and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the random access resource used in the random access attempt is higher than rsrp-ThresholdSSB; or

[0254] 5> If the random access attempt is a two-step random access attempt and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the random access resource used in the random access attempt is higher than msgA-RSRP-ThresholdSSB:

[0255] 6> Set dlRSRPAboveThreshold to true;

[0256] 5> Otherwise:

[0257] 6> Set dlRSRPAboveThreshold to false;

[0258] 2> Otherwise, if the random access resource used is associated with CSI-RS, set the associated random access parameters for consecutive random access attempts associated with the same CSI-RS used for one or more random access attempts as follows:

[0259] 3> Set csi-RS-Index to include the CSI-RS index associated with the random access resource used;

[0260] 3> Set numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS to indicate the number of consecutive random access attempts associated with CSI-RS.

[0261] 1> If a random access procedure is triggered for a set of features:

[0262] 2> Include triggeringFeatureCombination in the RA report;

[0263] 1> If the UE selects / uses a different set of features from triggeringFeatureCombination to select the random access resources for this random access procedure: or

[0264] 1> If triggeringFeatureCombination and the set of features used (usedFeatureCombination) are different:

[0265] 2> Include usedFeatureCombination in the RA report;

[0266] Note 1: Blank.

[0267] The inclusion of the feature combination information in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE can be implemented, for example, based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS 38.331 version 17.2.0 as shown in the highlighted language in Figure 37 as shown.

[0268] In a separate embodiment, the conditional inclusion of RA-related information is not limited to the feature combination RA information. The RA-related information of newly introduced features in subsequent versions can also be conditionally included in the RA report.

[0269] In some embodiments, the network can independently request conditional feature-related RA information via an indication in an RRC message (such as a UEInformationRequest message). After receiving the indication, the UE includes only the RA-related information associated with the requested feature. In other words, the UE reports only a part of the RA-related information when requested by the network, i.e., the information that the network is interested in collecting data at this time. For example, when explicitly indicated by the network, the UE includes the RA-related information associated with a specific feature.

[0270] Triggering Feature Combination Change

[0271] Some embodiments can include a triggering feature combination that changes during a series of RA attempts. If the set of features that trigger the RA process changes during the RA process (e.g., between two RA attempts), it may be beneficial to capture this in the RA report. To this end, the proposed embodiments can include several alternatives described below. In these descriptions, the term "feature combination information" refers to both the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used (but one of them can be omitted if they are the same).

[0272] Indication of Feature Combination Change at RA Attempt Level

[0273] In some embodiments, the feature combination information (i.e., the triggering feature combination and the used feature combination information, and if they are the same, one of them can be omitted) is indicated in the RA-Report-r16 IE (e.g., in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE) at the level of each RA attempt. However, if the feature combination information has not changed since the previous RA attempt, it is omitted in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE corresponding to the subsequent RA attempt. Therefore, the feature combination information is included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the first RA attempt in the RA process, and then the feature combination information is included in any further PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE in the same RA process (i.e., in the same RA-Report-r16 IE) only if the feature combination information changes for the RA attempt represented by the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE.

[0274] Indicate the initial feature combination information in the RA report at the RA procedure level and indicate the change at the RA attempt level

[0275] In some embodiments, the initial feature combination information is indicated at the top level in the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. Then, any subsequent change in the feature combination information in a subsequent RA attempt is indicated in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the RA attempt in which the change occurs.

[0276] Conditional Indication of Feature Combination Information Change

[0277] In other embodiments, the change in the feature combination information is indicated only if both the triggering feature combination and the used feature combination are changed (e.g., if the change in the triggering feature combination causes a change in the used feature combination). As shown in the previous two examples, the initial feature combination information is indicated at the top level in the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE or in the first PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE, and then the changed feature combination information is included in the subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE only if the changed triggering feature combination causes a change in the used feature combination (i.e., only if both the triggering feature combination and the used feature combination are changed).

[0278] Indicate only the initial feature combination information

[0279] In other embodiments, any change in the feature combination information during the RA process is ignored in the RA report. Only the initial feature combination information is reported. The motivation for this alternative is that the situation where the feature combination changes between two RA attempts in the RA process can be regarded as an extreme case, which is too rare to justify the increased specification complexity (and slightly increased signaling overhead). The initial feature combination information can be included at the top level in the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. In both cases, including it in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE has the advantage that when the random access procedure is involved in the RLF (e.g., when the RLF cause is a random access failure, i.e., when the rlf-Cause-r16 IE is set to "randomAccessProblem"), the information will also be automatically included in the RLF report (i.e., in the RLF-Report-r16 IE).

[0280] Indicate only the final feature combination information

[0281] In other alternative embodiments, any change in the feature combination information during the RA process is ignored in the RA report. Only the final feature combination information is reported. As in the alternative of reporting only the initial feature combination, as described in the previous example, the motivation for this alternative is that the situation where the feature combination changes between two RA attempts in the RA process can be regarded as an extreme case, which is too rare to justify the increased specification complexity (and slightly increased signaling overhead). The final feature combination information can be included at the top level in the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. As in the alternative of reporting only the initial feature combination, as described in the previous example, in both cases, including it in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE has the advantage that when the random access procedure is involved in the RLF (e.g., when the RLF cause is a random access failure, i.e., when the rlf-Cause-r16 IE is set to "randomAccessProblem"), the information will also be automatically included in the RLF report (i.e., in the RLF-Report-r16 IE).

[0282] Note that in the typical case, i.e., when the feature combination information remains the same during the RA process, the final feature combination information is the same as the initial feature combination information.

[0283] Additional Embodiments

[0284] A possible method embodiment according to the present disclosure is shown in Figure 38 . Method 2000 includes a method for optimizing the RA configuration performed by UE 2010, network 2020, or network node 2020. Step 2050 (optional) is for the UE to receive (or the network / node to send) a request for RA-related information. Step 2060 is for the UE to detect a trigger condition for initiating an RA procedure. The trigger condition may be based on a trigger feature combination including a first one or more features. Step 2070 is for the UE to select an RA preamble from an RA preamble partition. The RA preamble partition may be associated with a used feature combination including a second one or more features. Step 2080 is for the UE to send (or the network / node to receive) an RA report, wherein when the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are different, both of them are included in the RA report. Method 2000 may include multiple variations and embodiments and / or additional and / or alternative steps, including the variations discussed above and below.

[0285] Figure 39 An example of a communication system 2100 according to some embodiments is shown. In this example, communication system 2100 includes a telecommunications network 2102 and a core network 2106. The telecommunications network 2102 includes an access network 2104 such as a RAN, and the core network 2106 includes one or more core network nodes 2108. The access network 2104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 2110a and 2110b (one or more of which may generally be referred to as network node 2110), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network node 2110 facilitates the direct or indirect connection of the UE, such as by connecting UE 2112a, 2112b, 2112c, and 2112d (one or more of which may generally be referred to as UE 2112) to the core network 2106 via one or more wireless connections.

[0286] Example wireless communications via a wireless connection include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information without using wires, cables, or other material conductors. Additionally, in different embodiments, communication system 1100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired connection or a wireless connection. Communication system 2100 may include any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar types of systems and / or interface therewith.

[0287] The UE 2112 can be any of a variety of communication devices, including a wireless device arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network node 2110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network node 2110 is arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UE 2112 and / or with other network nodes or devices in the telecommunications network 2102 to enable and / or provide network access (such as wireless network access) and / or perform other functions (such as management in the telecommunications network 2102).

[0288] In the depicted example, the core network 2106 connects the network node 2110 to one or more hosts, such as the host 2116. These connections can be direct or indirect via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, the network node can be directly coupled to the host. The core network 2106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., the core network node 2108) constructed with hardware and software components. The characteristics of these components can be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UE, network node, and / or host, such that their description generally applies to the corresponding components of the core network node 2108. Example core network nodes include one or more of the functions of a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME), a home subscriber server (HSS), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a subscription identifier de-concealment function (SIDF), a unified data management (UDM), a security edge protection proxy (SEPP), a network exposure function (NEF), and / or a user plane function (UPF).

[0289] The host 2116 can be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of the access network 2104 and / or the telecommunications network 2102, and can be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The host 2116 can host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (such as retrieving and editing data on various environmental conditions detected by multiple UEs), analysis functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions performed by a server.

[0290] As a whole Figure 39The communication system 2100 enables connections between UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures such as specific standards, which include but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future-generation standards (e.g., 6G); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0291] In some examples, the telecommunications network 2102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Thus, the telecommunications network 2102 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to the telecommunications network 2102. For example, the telecommunications network 2102 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or providing massive machine-type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to additional UEs.

[0292] In some examples, the UE 2112 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from the access network 2104, the UE can be designed to send information to the access network 2104 according to a predefined schedule. Additionally, the UE can be configured to operate in single-RAT or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, the UE can operate using any one or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., be configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0293] In this example, the hub 2114 communicates with the access network 2104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 2112c and / or 2112d) and a network node (e.g., network node 2110b). In some examples, the hub 2114 can be any one of a controller, a router, a content source and analyzer, or other communication devices described herein with respect to the UE. For example, the hub 2114 can be a broadband router that enables the UE to access the core network 2106. As another example, the hub 2114 can be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. The commands or instructions can be received from the UE, the network node 2110, or through executable code, scripts, procedures, or other instructions in the hub 2114. As another example, the hub 2114 can be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data and, in some embodiments, can perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 2114 can be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, a display, a speaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 2114 can retrieve VR assets, videos, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via the network node, and then the hub 2114 can provide it directly to the UE, provide it to the UE after performing local processing and / or after adding additional local content. In yet another example, the hub 2114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, particularly in cases where one or more of the UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0294] The hub 2114 can have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 2110b. The hub 2114 can also allow for different communication schemes and / or scheduling between the hub 2114 and the UE (e.g., UEs 2112c and / or 2112d) and between the hub 2114 and the core network 2106. In other examples, the hub 2114 is connected to the core network 2106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Additionally, the hub 2114 can be configured to connect to an M2M service provider via the access network 1104 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, the UE can establish a wireless connection to the network node 2110 while still being connected via the hub 2114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 2114 can be a dedicated hub, that is, its main function is to route communication from the network node 2110b to the UE / from the UE to the network node 2110b. In other embodiments, the hub 2114 can be a non-dedicated hub, that is, a device that is capable of operating to route communication between the UE and the network node 2110b but can also operate as a communication origin and / or destination for certain data channels.

[0295] Figure 40Shows a UE 2200 according to some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable of, configured to, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cellular phones, Internet Protocol voice (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, game consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptop computers, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPEs), vehicle-mounted or vehicle-embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine type communication (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0296] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, dedicated short range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, the UE may represent a device intended for sale to or operation by a human user, but the device may not be associated with a particular human user, or may not initially be associated with that particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device not intended for sale to or operation by an end user, but the device may be associated with a user or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart meter).

[0297] The UE 2200 includes a processing circuit 2202, which is operably coupled via a bus 2204 to an input / output interface 2206, a power supply 2208, a memory 2210, a communication interface 2212, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize Figure 40 all or a subset of the components shown. The level of integration between components may vary from one UE to another. Additionally, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0298] The processing circuitry 2202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions stored as a machine-readable computer program in the memory 2210. The processing circuitry 2202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, a general purpose processor such as a microprocessor or a digital signal processor (DSP), and appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 2202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0299] In this example, the input / output interface 2206 may be configured to provide one or more interfaces to an input device, an output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. Input devices may allow a user to capture information into the UE 2200. Examples of input devices include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a roller, a smart card, etc. A presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. Sensors may be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. Output devices may use the same type of interface port as input devices. For example, a universal serial bus (USB) port may be used to provide input and output devices.

[0300] In some embodiments, the power supply 2208 is configured as a battery or a battery pack. Other types of power supplies may be used, such as an external power supply (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a power cell. The power supply 2208 may also include a power circuitry for delivering power from the power supply 2208 itself and / or an external power supply to various parts of the UE 2200 via an input circuit or an interface such as a power cable. The delivered power may be used, for example, to charge the power supply 2208. The power circuitry may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification of the power from the power supply 2208 to make the power suitable for the various components of the UE 2200 being powered.

[0301] The memory 2210 can be or be configured to include a memory, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, a removable magnetic tape cartridge, a flash drive, etc. In one example, the memory 2210 includes one or more applications 2214, such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other applications, and corresponding data 2216. The memory 2210 can store any operating system or combination of operating systems for use by the UE 2200.

[0302] The memory 2210 can be configured to include a plurality of physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard disk drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, an internal hard disk drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a smart card memory (such as a tamper-resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or an ISIM), other memories, or any combination thereof. The UICC can be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly referred to as a "SIM card". The memory 2210 can allow the UE 2200 to access instructions, applications, etc. stored on a temporary or non-temporary storage medium to offload data or upload data. A manufacture, such as a manufacture of a communication system, can be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 2210, and the memory 2210 can be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0303] The processing circuit 2202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 2212. The communication interface 2212 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include an antenna 2222 or be communicatively coupled to the antenna 2222. The communication interface 2212 may include one or more transceivers for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 2218 and / or a receiver 2220 adapted to provide network communication (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). Additionally, the transmitter 2218 and the receiver 2220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 2222) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0304] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication interface 2212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. The communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so on.

[0305] Regardless of the type of sensor, the UE may provide an output of the data captured by its sensors via a wireless connection to a network node through its communication interface 2212. The data captured by the UE's sensors may be transmitted to the network node via another UE over a wireless connection. The output may be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the load of reports from multiple sensors), in response to a trigger event (e.g., sending an alert when moisture is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0306] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, a motor, or a switch, which is associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch can be changed. For example, the UE may include a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a flying drone according to the received input, or adjusts a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0307] When in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, the UE can be a device used in one or more application areas, including but not limited to urban wearable technologies, extended industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are devices or devices embedded in the following: connected refrigerators or freezers, televisions, connected lighting devices, electricity meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, air conditioning systems (such as heat pumps), autonomous vehicles, monitoring systems, weather monitoring devices, vehicle parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smart watches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), wearable devices for tactile or sensory enhancement, sprinklers, animal or item tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any kind of medical device (such as a heart rate monitor or a remotely controlled surgical robot). In addition to other components described with respect to the UE 2200 shown in Figure 40 The UE in the form of an IoT device includes circuits and / or software that depend on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0308] As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, the UE can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or a network node. In this case, the UE can be an M2M device, which can be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, the UE can implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, the UE can represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, and airplane, or other devices capable of monitoring and / or reporting their operating status or capable of performing other functions associated with their operation.

[0309] In practice, for a single use case, any number of UEs can be used together. For example, a first UE may be or integrated in a drone and provide the speed information of the drone (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller for operating the drone. When the user makes a change from the remote controller, the first UE can adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the speed of the drone. The first and / or second UE may also include more than one of the above functions. For example, a UE may include sensors and actuators and handle the communication for the speed sensors and actuators.

[0310] Figure 41 FIG. 3300 shows a network node according to some embodiments. As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), and NR Node B (gNB)).

[0311] Base stations can be classified based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, based on their transmit power levels), and thus, depending on the amount of coverage provided, a base station can be referred to as a femto base station, a pico base station, a micro base station, or a macro base station. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), which is sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such remote radio units can be integrated with an antenna to form an antenna-integrated radio or not integrated with an antenna. The parts of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0312] Other examples of network nodes include multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) devices such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), operations and maintenance (O&M) nodes, operations support system (OSS) nodes, self-organizing network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC)), and / or minimized drive test (MDT).

[0313] The network node 3300 includes a processing circuit 3302, a memory 3304, a communication interface 3306, and a power supply 3308. The network node 3300 can be composed of multiple physically separated components (e.g., NodeB components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), and each component can have its own corresponding components. In some scenarios where the network node 3300 includes multiple separated components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separated components can be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple NodeBs. In such scenarios, each unique pair of NodeB and RNC can be regarded as a single separated network node in some cases. In some embodiments, the network node 1300 can be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components can be duplicated (e.g., separated memories 3304 for different RATs), and some components can be reused (e.g., the same antenna 3310 can be shared by different RATs). The network node 3300 can also include multiple sets of various shown components for different wireless technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, radio frequency identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies) integrated into the network node 1300. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or chip sets and other components within the network node 1300.

[0314] The processing circuit 3302 can include a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or coded logic, which is operable to provide the functions of the network node 3300 either alone or in conjunction with other network node 3300 components such as the memory 3304.

[0315] In some embodiments, the processing circuit 3302 includes a system on chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuit 3302 includes one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 3312 and a baseband processing circuit 3314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 3312 and the baseband processing circuit 3314 can be on separate chips (or chip sets), boards, or units, such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuit 3312 and the baseband processing circuit 3314 can be on the same chip or chip set, board, or unit.

[0316] The memory 3304 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to persistent storage devices, solid-state memories, remotely installed memories, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (such as hard disks), removable storage media (such as flash drives, compact discs (CDs) or digital video discs (DVDs)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by the processing circuitry 3302. The memory 3304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications, which include one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions that can be executed by the processing circuitry 3302 and utilized by the network node 3300. The memory 3304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 3302 and / or any data received via the communication interface 3306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 3302 and the memory 3304 are integrated.

[0317] The communication interface 3306 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks, and / or UEs. As shown, the communication interface 3306 includes one or more ports / terminals 3316 for sending data to and receiving data from the network, for example, via a wired connection. The communication interface 3306 also includes a radio front-end circuit 3318, which may be coupled to the antenna 3310 or, in some embodiments, is part of the antenna 3310. The radio front-end circuit 3318 includes a filter 3320 and an amplifier 3322. The radio front-end circuit 3318 may be connected to the antenna 3310 and the processing circuitry 3302. The radio front-end circuit may be configured to condition the signals transmitted between the antenna 3310 and the processing circuitry 3302. The radio front-end circuit 3318 may receive digital data to be transmitted outward via a wireless connection to other network nodes or UEs. The radio front-end circuit 3318 may use a combination of the filter 3320 and / or the amplifier 3322 to convert the digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 3310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 3310 may collect the radio signal, which is then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit 3318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 3302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0318] In some alternative embodiments, the network node 3300 does not include a separate radio front-end circuit 3318, but rather the processing circuit 3302 includes the radio front-end circuit and is connected to the antenna 3310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 3312 is part of the communication interface 3306. In other embodiments, the communication interface 3306 includes one or more ports or terminals 3316, a radio front-end circuit 3318, and an RF transceiver circuit 3312 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 3306 communicates with a baseband processing circuit 3314 as part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0319] The antenna 3310 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 3310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuit 3318 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In certain embodiments, the antenna 3310 is separate from the network node 3300 and may be connected to the network node 3300 via an interface or port.

[0320] The antenna 3310, the communication interface 3306, and / or the processing circuit 3302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain acquisition operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, the antenna 3310, the communication interface 3306, and / or the processing circuit 3302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0321] The power supply 3308 supplies power to the various components of the network node 3300 in a form suitable for each component (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required for each respective component). The power supply 3308 may further include or be coupled to a power management circuit to supply power to the components of the network node 3300 for performing the functions described herein. For example, the network node 3300 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., a power grid, an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as a cable, and the external power source supplies power to the power circuit of the power supply 3308. As another example, the power supply 3308 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack, which is connected to or integrated in the power circuit. The battery may provide backup power in the event of a failure of the external power source.

[0322] Embodiments of the network node 3300 may include Figure 41Additional components beyond those shown are used to provide certain aspects of network node functionality, including any functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 3300 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into network node 3300 and to allow information to be output from network node 3300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions of network node 3300.

[0323] Figure 42 is a block diagram of host 4400 according to various aspects described herein, and host 4400 may be Figure 39 an embodiment of host 2116. As used herein, host 4400 may be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including stand-alone servers, blade servers, cloud-implemented servers, distributed servers, virtual machines, containers, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 4400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0324] Host 4400 includes processing circuitry 4402 that is operably coupled via bus 4404 to input / output interface 4406, network interface 4408, power supply 4410, and memory 4412. Other components may be included in other embodiments. The characteristics of these components may be substantially similar to those described for the devices of the previous figures (such as Figure 40 and Figure 41 ), such that the description generally applies to the corresponding components of host 4400.

[0325] The memory 4412 may include one or more computer programs, which include one or more host applications 4414 and data 4416. The data 4416 may include user data (e.g., data generated by the UE for the host 4400 or data generated by the host 4400 for the UE). Embodiments of the host 4400 may utilize only a subset or all of the illustrated components. The host application 4414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, and G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations for the UE (e.g., mobile phone, desktop computer, wearable display system, head-up display system). The host application 4414 may also provide user authentication and license checking and may periodically report health status, routing, and content availability to a central node (such as a device in the core network or at the edge). Thus, the host 4400 may select and / or indicate different hosts for over-the-top services for the UE. The host application 4414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), HTTP-based Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0326] Figure 43 is a block diagram showing a virtualized environment 5500 in which functions implemented in some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of a device or equipment, which may include virtualizing the hardware platform, storage devices, and network resources. As used herein, virtualization may be applied to any device or its components described herein and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of a function is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) in one or more virtual environments 5500 hosted by one or more hardware nodes (such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts). Additionally, in embodiments where a virtual node does not require a radio connection (e.g., a core network node or a host), then the node may be fully virtualized.

[0327] The application 5502 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, virtual device, network function, virtual node, virtual network function, etc.) runs in the virtualized environment 5500 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0328] The hardware 5504 includes a processing circuit, a memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuit, and / or other hardware devices described herein, such as a network interface, an input / output interface, etc. The software can be executed by the processing circuit to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 5506 (also referred to as a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM)), provide VMs 5508a and 5508b (one or more of which can be generally referred to as VM 5508), and / or perform any functions, features, and / or benefits described in connection with some embodiments herein. The virtualization layer 5506 can present a virtual operating platform to the VMs 5508 that appears like network hardware.

[0329] The VMs 5508 include virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and can be run by the corresponding virtualization layer 5506. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual device 5502 can be implemented on one or more of the VMs 5508 and can be implemented in different ways. The virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) in some contexts. NFV can be used to consolidate many network device types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0330] In the context of NFV, the VMs 5508 can be software implementations of physical machines that run programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 5508 and that portion of the hardware 5504 that executes that VM, whether the hardware dedicated to that VM and / or the hardware shared by that VM with other VMs in the VMs, forms a separate virtual network element. Still in the context of NFV, the virtual network functions are responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more of the VMs 5508 on top of the hardware 5504 and correspond to the applications 5502.

[0331] The hardware 5504 can be implemented in an independent network node with general or specific components. Some functions of the hardware 5504 can be implemented via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 5504 can be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE), where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 5510, and the management and orchestration 5510 particularly supervises the lifecycle management of the application 5502. In some embodiments, the hardware 5504 is coupled to one or more radio units, and each radio unit includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units can communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more suitable network interfaces and can be used in combination with virtual components to provide radio capabilities to virtual nodes such as radio access nodes or base stations. In some embodiments, a control system 5512 can be used to provide some signaling, and the control system 5512 can alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes and the radio units.

[0332] Figure 44 A communication diagram showing a host 6602 communicating with a UE 6606 over a partial wireless connection via a network node 6604 according to some embodiments is now presented. Reference will now be made to Figure 44 Describe example implementations of the UE (such as Figure 39 UE 2112a and / or Figure 40 UE 2200), network nodes (such as Figure 39 network node 2110a and / or Figure 41 network node 3300), and hosts (such as Figure 39 host 2116 and / or Figure 42 host 4400) discussed in the previous paragraphs according to various embodiments.

[0333] Similar to the host 4400, embodiments of the host 6602 include hardware such as communication interfaces, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 6602 also includes software stored in or accessible by the host 6602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes host applications that are operable to provide services to remote users, such as the UE 6606 connected via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 6650 extending between the UE 6606 and the host 6602. During the process of providing services to remote users, the host applications can provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 6650.

[0334] The network node 6604 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with the host 6602 and the UE 6606. The connection 6660 can be direct or through a core network (such as Figure 39a core network 2106) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or managed networks. For example, the intermediate network can be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0335] UE 6606 includes hardware and software that is stored in or accessible by UE 6606 and executable by the processing circuitry of the UE. The software includes client applications, such as a web browser or an operator-specific "app", that are operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via UE 6606 with the support of host 6602. In host 6602, a running host application can communicate with a running client application via an OTT connection 6650 that terminates at UE 6606 and host 6602. In the process of providing services to the user, the client application of the UE can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 6650 can transport the request data and the user data. The client application of the UE can interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application via the OTT connection 6650.

[0336] The OTT connection 6650 can extend via a connection 6660 between host 6602 and network node 6604 and via a wireless connection 6670 between network node 6604 and UE 6606 to provide a connection between host 6602 and UE 6606. The connection 6660 and the wireless connection 6670 over which the OTT connection 6650 can be provided are drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host 6602 and UE 1606 via network node 6604 without explicitly referring to any intermediate devices and the exact routing of messages via these devices.

[0337] As an example of sending data via the OTT connection 6650, in step 6608, the host 6602 provides user data, which can be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with the UE 6606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with the UE 6606, which shares data with the host 6602 without explicit human interaction. In step 6610, the host 6602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE 6606. The host 6602 can initiate the transmission in response to a request sent by the UE 6606. The request can be caused by a human interaction with the UE 6606 or by an operation of a client application executing on the UE 6606. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission can be through the network node 6604. Thus, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, in step 6612, the network node 6604 sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host 6602 to the UE 6606. In step 6614, the UE 6606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which can be performed by a client application executing on the UE 6606, and the client application is associated with the host application executed by the host 6602.

[0338] In some examples, the UE 6606 executes a client application that provides user data to the host 6602. The user data can be provided in response to or in reaction to data received from the host 6602. Thus, in step 6616, the UE 6606 can provide user data, which can be performed by executing the client application. During the process of providing the user data, the client application can further consider user input received from the user via the input / output interface of the UE 6606. Regardless of the specific manner of providing the user data, in step 6618, the UE 6606 initiates a transmission of the user data to the host 6602 via the network node 6604. In step 6620, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 6604 receives the user data from the UE 6606 and initiates a transmission of the received user data to the host 6602. In step 6622, the host 6602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 6606.

[0339] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE 6606 using the OTT connection 6650 in which the wireless connection 6670 forms the last leg. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve data rate, latency, and / or power consumption, and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user wait time, relaxed restrictions on file size, improved content parsing, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery life.

[0340] In an example scenario, the host 6602 can collect and analyze factory status information. As another example, the host 6602 can process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating a map. As another example, the host 6602 can collect and analyze real-time data to help control vehicle congestion (e.g., control traffic lights). As another example, the host 6602 can store surveillance videos uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 6602 can store media content (such as video, audio, VR, or AR) that it can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to a UE, or control access to the media content. As other examples, the host 6602 can be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical electrical loads to balance power generation demand, location services, rendering services (such as compiling charts based on data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or sending data.

[0341] In some examples, a measurement process can be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors improved in one or more embodiments. There can also be optional network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 6650 between the host 6602 and the UE 6606 in response to changes in the measurement results. The measurement process and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection can be implemented in the software and hardware of the host 6602 and / or the UE 6606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) can be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 6650 passes; the sensors can participate in the measurement process by providing values of the monitored quantities illustrated above or other physical quantities from which software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 6650 can include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguration does not need to directly change the operation of the network node 6604. Such processes and functions can be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurement can involve dedicated UE signaling that facilitates the host 6602's measurement of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurement can be achieved by software causing messages, especially empty messages or "dummy" messages, to be sent using the OTT connection 6650 while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0342] Although the computing devices (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) described herein may include the illustrated combinations of hardware components, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, obtaining, or similar operations described herein may be performed by a processing circuit that may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information, and making a determination as a result of the processing. Additionally, although a component is depicted as a single box located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a computing device may include multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and the functionality may be divided among separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any one of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of a component may be divided between a processing circuit and a communication interface. In another example, the non-computation-intensive functionality of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, and the computation-intensive functionality may be implemented in hardware.

[0343] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by a processing circuit that executes instructions stored in a memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by a processing circuit without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of these particular embodiments, whether or not instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed, the processing circuit may be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuit itself or other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or generally by the end user and the wireless network.

[0344] It will be understood that computer systems are increasingly taking on a wide variety of forms. In this specification and the claims, the terms "controller", "computer system", or "computing system" are broadly defined to include any device or system or combination thereof that includes at least one physical and tangible processor and a physical and tangible memory capable of having computer-executable instructions thereon that can be executed by the processor. By way of example and not limitation, the term "computer system" or "computing system" as used herein is intended to include personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, handheld devices (such as mobile phones, PDAs, pagers), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, multiprocessor systems, network PCs, distributed computing systems, data centers, message processors, routers, switches, and even devices not traditionally considered computing systems, such as wearable devices (e.g., glasses).

[0345] The computing system also has thereon a number of structures commonly referred to as "executable components". For example, the memory of the computing system can include executable components. The term "executable component" is a name for such a structure that is well known to those of ordinary skill in the computing art as a structure that can be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, when implemented in software, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the structure of an executable component can include software objects, routines, methods, etc. that can be executed by one or more processors on the computing system, whether such executable components exist in the heap of the computing system or whether the executable components exist on a computer-readable storage medium. The structure of the executable component exists on the computer-readable medium in such a form that when executed by one or more processors of the computing system, it is operable to cause the computing system to perform one or more functions, such as the functions and methods described herein. Such a structure can be directly readable by the processor, as is the case when the executable component is binary. Alternatively, the structure can be constructed to be interpretable and / or compilable—either in a single stage or in multiple stages—to generate a binary file that can be directly interpreted by the processor.

[0346] The terms "component", "service", "engine", "module", "control", "generator", etc. may also be used in this specification. As used in this specification and in this context, these terms—whether or not expressed with a modifying clause—are also intended to be synonymous with the term "executable component" and thus also have a structure well known to those of ordinary skill in the computing art.

[0347] In terms of computer implementation, a computer is generally understood to include one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer, processor, and controller may be used interchangeably. When provided by a computer, processor, or controller, these functions may be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, a single shared computer or processor or controller, or multiple separate computers or processors or controllers where some of them may be shared or distributed. Additionally, the term "processor" or "controller" also refers to other hardware capable of performing such functions and / or executing software, such as the example hardware described above.

[0348] In general, various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or a dedicated chip, circuitry, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, although the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Although the various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other graphical representation, it is well understood that, by way of non-limiting example, the blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, a dedicated circuit or logic, general hardware or a controller or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0349] Although not all computing systems require a user interface, in some embodiments, a computing system includes a user interface for communicating information to / from a user. The user interface may include an output mechanism as well as an input mechanism. The principles described herein are not limited to a precise output mechanism or input mechanism, as this will depend on the nature of the device. However, the output mechanism may include, for example, speakers, displays, tactile outputs, projections, holograms, etc. Examples of input mechanisms may include, for example, microphones, touchscreens, projections, holograms, cameras, keyboards, styli, mice or other pointer inputs, any type of sensors, etc.

[0350] Abbreviations and Defined Terms

[0351] To assist in understanding the scope and content of this written specification and the appended claims, some selected terms are directly defined below. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0352] As used herein, the terms "approximate", "about" and "substantially" refer to a quantity or condition that is close to a particular specified quantity or condition and that still performs the desired function or achieves the desired result. For example, the terms "approximate", "about" and "substantially" can refer to a quantity or condition that deviates from the specifically specified quantity or condition by less than 10%, or less than 5%, or less than 1%, or less than 0.1%, or less than 0.01%.

[0353] Aspects of the present disclosure, including devices, systems, and methods, may be illustrated with reference to one or more embodiments or implementations that are exemplary in nature. As used herein, the term "exemplary" means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration" and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, a reference to an "implementation" of the present disclosure or an embodiment includes a reference to one or more embodiments thereof, and vice versa, and is intended to provide illustrative examples without limiting the scope of the present disclosure, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims rather than this specification.

[0354] As used in this specification, a word in the singular form includes its corresponding plural form, and a word in the plural form includes its corresponding singular form, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated to be otherwise. Thus, it will be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, a reference to a single referent (e.g., "a widget") includes one, two, or more referents unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated to be otherwise. Similarly, a reference to plural referents should be construed to include a single referent and / or plural referents unless the content and / or context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, a reference to plural referents (e.g., "widgets") does not necessarily require multiple such referents. Instead, it will be understood that one or more referents are contemplated herein regardless of the inferred number of referents, unless otherwise stated.

[0355] References in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "example embodiment", etc., indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment must include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art to implement such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments (whether or not explicitly described).

[0356] It should be understood that although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the exemplary embodiments, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0357] It will be further understood that when the terms "comprise", "include" and / or "have" are used herein, they specify the presence of the stated features, elements and / or components, etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0358] Conclusion

[0359] The present disclosure includes any novel feature or combination of features or any generalization thereof that is explicitly disclosed herein. When read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, various modifications and adaptations of the foregoing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant art. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0360] It will be understood that for any given component or embodiment described herein, any possible candidates or alternatives listed for that component can generally be used individually or in combination with each other, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated to have a different meaning. Additionally, it will be understood that any such list of candidates or alternatives is merely illustrative and not restrictive, unless implicitly or explicitly understood or stated to have a different meaning.

[0361] In addition, unless otherwise indicated, numbers expressing quantities, compositions, distances, or other measurements used in the specification and claims should be understood to be modified by the term "about" as defined herein. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and the appended claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the subject matter presented herein. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Although the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the subject matter presented herein are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. However, any numerical value inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements.

[0362] Any headings and subheadings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the specification or claims. The terms and expressions that have been employed herein are used as descriptive terms and not of limitation, and the use of such terms and expressions is not intended to exclude any equivalents of the features or portions thereof shown and described, but it should be recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is to be understood that, although the present disclosure has been specifically disclosed in part by certain embodiments, alternative features, modifications, and variations of the concepts disclosed herein may be made by those skilled in the art, and such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0363] It will also be understood that a system, apparatus, product, kit, method, and / or process in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include, incorporate, or otherwise include attributes or features (e.g., components, elements, parts, and / or portions) described in other embodiments disclosed and / or described herein. Accordingly, the various features of certain embodiments may be compatible with, combined with, included in, and / or incorporated into other embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, the disclosure of certain features related to a particular embodiment of the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting the application or inclusion of such features to that particular embodiment. Instead, it will be understood that other embodiments may also include such features, elements, parts, and / or portions, without necessarily departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0364] Furthermore, unless a feature is described as requiring another feature in combination therewith, any feature herein may be combined with any other feature of the same or different embodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, various well-known aspects of illustrative systems, methods, devices, etc. are not described in detail herein so as to avoid obscuring aspects of the example embodiments. However, such aspects are also contemplated herein.

[0365] It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other methods, devices, device elements, materials, processes, and techniques other than those specifically described herein may be applied to the practice of the embodiments disclosed broadly herein without undue experimentation. All known functional equivalents of the methods, devices, device elements, materials, processes, and techniques specifically described herein are intended to be encompassed by the present disclosure.

[0366] When a group of materials, ingredients, components, or compounds is disclosed herein, it is to be understood that all individual members of these groups and all subgroups thereof are disclosed separately. When a Markush group or other grouping is used herein, all individual members of the group and all possible combinations and subcombinations of the group are intended to be separately included in the present disclosure.

[0367] The above embodiments are merely examples. Without departing from the scope of this specification which is defined only by the appended claims, those skilled in the art can make changes, modifications, and variations to specific embodiments.

Claims

1. A method for optimizing random access (RA) configuration performed by a user equipment (UE) (2010), the method comprising: detecting a trigger condition (2060) for initiating an RA procedure, the trigger condition being based on a trigger feature combination comprising one or more first features; selecting an RA preamble (2070) from an RA preamble partition, the RA preamble partition being associated with a used feature combination comprising one or more second features; and sending (2080) an RA report to a network node (2020), wherein when the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are different, they are both included in the RA report.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the trigger feature combination is omitted.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the used feature combination is omitted.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in one of the following ways: included once in the RA-Report-r16 information element (IE); included once for each RA procedure; included in the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE; included in the RA-Report-r16 IE for each RA attempt; included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, the trigger feature combination changes during multiple RA attempts.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in the RA-Report-r16 information element (IE) at the level of each RA attempt; and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination have remained unchanged since the previous RA attempt, it is omitted from the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE corresponding to the subsequent RA attempt; and if the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are changed for an RA attempt, the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the first RA attempt in the RA procedure, and then included in any subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE in the same RA procedure.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, The triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is included in at least one of the following: the RA-Report-r16 information element IE; or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE; and wherein any subsequent change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination in a subsequent RA attempt is indicated in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE of the RA attempt indicating the subsequent change.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, a change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is indicated only if both the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination are changed.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, a change in the triggered feature combination causes a change in the used feature combination.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is indicated in at least one of the following: the RA-Report-r16 information element IE; the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE; the first PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE; and the changed triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is included in a subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE only if the changed triggered feature combination causes a change in the used feature combination.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, any change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination during the RA procedure is ignored in a subsequent RA report, and only the initial triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is reported in the RA report.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is included in the RA-Report-r16 information element IE or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, any change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination during the RA procedure is ignored in the RA report, and only the final triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is reported in a subsequent RA report.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, the final triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is included in the RA-Report-r16 information element IE or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein, RA-related information of newly introduced features is included in the RA report or any subsequent RA report.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, further comprising: Receive (2050) a request for RA-related information from a network (2020).

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, the request is sent via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein, the RA report only includes RA-related information associated with the features indicated in the request.

19. A method for optimizing a Random Access (RA) configuration performed by a network node (2020), the method comprises: when a trigger condition occurs, receive (2080) an RA report from a User Equipment (UE) (2010), wherein the trigger condition is based on a trigger feature combination including one or more first features, and wherein the RA report includes an RA preamble partition associated with a used feature combination including one or more second features, wherein when the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination are different, they are both included in the RA report.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein, the trigger feature combination is omitted.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein, the used feature combination is omitted.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein, the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in one of the following ways: included once in a Radio Access (RA)-Report-r16 Information Element (IE); included once for each RA procedure; included in the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE; included in the RA-Report-r16 IE for each RA attempt; included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein, the trigger feature combination changes during multiple RA attempts.

24. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein, the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in a Radio Access (RA)-Report-r16 Information Element (IE) at the level of each RA attempt; and if the trigger feature combination and the used feature combination have remained the same since the previous RA attempt, it is omitted from the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE corresponding to the subsequent RA attempt; and if the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are changed for an RA attempt, the trigger feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the first RA attempt in the RA procedure, and then included in any subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE in the same RA procedure.

25. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein, the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in at least one of the following: RA-Report-r16 information element IE; or RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE; and wherein any subsequent change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination in a subsequent RA attempt is indicated in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE of the RA attempt indicating the subsequent change.

26. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein, a change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination is indicated only if both the triggered feature combination and the used feature combination are changed.

27. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 26, wherein, a change in the triggered feature combination causes a change in the used feature combination.

28. The method according to claim 26, wherein, the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are indicated in at least one of the following: RA-Report-r16 information element IE; RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE; the first PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE; and the changed triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in a subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE only if the changed triggered feature combination causes a change in the used feature combination.

29. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein, any change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination during the RA process is ignored in a subsequent RA report, and only the initial triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are reported in the RA report.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein, the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in the RA-Report-r16 information element IE or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE.

31. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein, any change in the triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination during the RA process is ignored in the RA report, and only the final triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are reported in a subsequent RA report.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein, the final triggered feature combination and / or the used feature combination are included in the RA-Report-r16 information element IE or the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE.

33. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 32, wherein, RA-related information of newly introduced features is included in the RA report or any subsequent RA report.

34. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 33, further comprises: sending (2050) a request for RA-related information to the UE.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein, the request is sent via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message.

36. The method according to claim 34 or 35, wherein, the RA report only includes RA-related information associated with the features indicated in the request.

37. A user equipment (UE) (2010) for optimizing a random access (RA) configuration, comprising: a processing circuit (2202) configured to perform any of the steps according to any one of claims 1 to 18; and a power supply circuit (2208) configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

38. A user equipment (UE) (2010) for optimizing a random access (RA) configuration, the UE comprising: an antenna (2222) configured to transmit and receive wireless signals; a radio front-end circuit (2212) connected to the antenna and the processing circuit and configured to condition signals transmitted between the antenna and the processing circuit; the processing circuit (2202) configured to perform any of the steps according to any one of claims 1 to 18; an input interface (2206) connected to the processing circuit and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuit; an output interface (2206) connected to the processing circuit and configured to output information that has been processed by the processing circuit from the UE; and a battery (2208) connected to the processing circuit and configured to supply power to the UE.

39. A network node (2020) for optimizing a random access (RA) configuration, the network node comprising: a processing circuit (3302) configured to perform any of the steps according to any one of claims 19 to 36; a power supply circuit (3308) configured to supply power to the processing circuit.

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