Generating filtering results in user equipment triggered lower layer-based handover

Abstract

The invention relates to generating filtering results in lower layer-based handover triggered by user equipment. Performing the UE triggered lower layer based handover may include performing a measurement of a source gNB CSI-RS sample associated with the source gNB. A measurement of a target gNB CSI-RS sample associated with the target gNB may be performed, wherein a CSI-RS sample associated with the source gNB and a CSI-RS sample associated with the target gNB are transmitted in a burst structure. A subset of the source gNB CSI-RS samples and the target gNB CSI-RS samples may be filtered using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter. A filtering result may be generated for each of the subset of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the subset of target gNB CSI-RS samples. It is determined whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur based on the generated filtering results for each of the subset of the source gNB CSI-RS samples and the subset of the target gNB CSI-RS samples.

Description

[0001] Related application citations

[0002] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application with international application number PCT / CN2020 / 090506, international application date May 15, 2020, date of entry into the Chinese national phase November 14, 2022, Chinese national application number 202080100879.0, and invention name “Generating filtering results in lower-layer-based switching triggered by user equipment”. Technical Field

[0003] The present application generally relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to generating filtering results in handovers within a 5G New Radio network. Background Art

[0004] Wireless mobile communication technology uses various standards and protocols to transmit data between base stations and wireless mobile devices. Wireless communication system standards and protocols may include the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) (e.g., 4G) or New Radio (NR) (e.g., 5G); the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); and the IEEE 802.11 standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), which is commonly referred to by industry organizations as Wi-Fi. In the 3GPP Radio Access Network (RAN) in an LTE system, a base station may include a RAN node such as an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) Node B (also commonly referred to as an evolved Node B, enhanced Node B, eNodeB, or eNB) and / or a Radio Network Controller (RNC) in the E-UTRAN, which communicates with a wireless communication device called a user equipment (UE). In the fifth generation (5G) wireless RAN, the RAN nodes may include 5G nodes, NR nodes (also known as next generation Node B or g NodeB (gNB)).

[0005] The RAN uses radio access technologies (RATs) to communicate between RAN nodes and UEs. The RAN may include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) RAN (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and / or E-UTRAN, which provide access to communication services through the core network. Each RAN in the RAN operates according to a specific 3GPP RAT. For example, GERAN implements GSM and / or EDGE RATs, UTRAN implements Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) RATs or other 3GPP RATs, E-UTRAN implements LTE RATs, and NG-RAN implements 5G RATs. In some deployments, E-UTRAN may also implement 5G RATs.

[0006] The frequency bands for 5G NR can be divided into two different frequency ranges. Frequency Range 1 (FR1) includes frequency bands below 6 GHz, some of which may be used by previous standards but can potentially be expanded to cover potential new spectrum products from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. Frequency Range 2 (FR2) includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The frequency bands in the millimeter wave (mmWave) range of FR2 have a shorter range but higher available bandwidth than the frequency bands in FR1. The skilled person will recognize that these frequency ranges, which are provided by way of example, may vary over time or from region to region. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit(s) in a reference number refers to the drawing number that first introduces the element.

[0008] Figure 1 A process according to one embodiment is shown.

[0009] Figure 2 A process according to one embodiment is shown.

[0010] Figure 3 A process according to one embodiment is shown.

[0011] Figure 4 A process according to one embodiment is shown.

[0012] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method according to one embodiment is shown.

[0013] Figure 6 A system according to one embodiment is shown.

[0014] Figure 7 Infrastructure equipment according to one embodiment is shown.

[0015] Figure 8 A platform according to one embodiment is shown.

[0016] Figure 9 An apparatus according to one embodiment is shown.

[0017] Figure 10 An exemplary interface according to one embodiment is shown.

[0018] Figure 11 Components according to one embodiment are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] As described in 3GPP Release 15 (Rel-15) and Release 16 (Rel-16), handovers can be performed using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Specifically, the first option involves handovers being triggered by the gNodeB (gNB) using RRC signaling. Alternatively, under Rel-15 / Rel16, handovers can be triggered based on one or more conditions derived from Layer 3 (L3) measurements.

[0020] In contrast, 3GPP Release 17 (Rel-17) supports lower layer (i.e., Layer 1 and / or Layer 2) based handover. Notably, a user equipment (UE) can be configured with a number of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, and the gNB can be configured to trigger the handover process based on some Layer 1 (L1) and / or Layer 2 (L2) signaling (e.g., medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs) for TCI indications). Compared to RRC signaling, L1 / L2 signaling can reduce latency and signaling overhead.

[0021] In order to support UE-triggered L1 / L2-based switching, the following outstanding issues may exist: 1. Conditions for UE to trigger L1 / L2-based switching; 2. Metrics for determining L1 / L2-based switching (L3-based metrics may result in larger delays); and 3. Procedures and control signaling for UE-triggered L1 / L2-based switching.

[0022] Figure 1 A general process 100 for performing a UE-triggered handover is shown. As shown, the process 100 includes a UE 102, a source gNB 104, and a target gNB 106. Furthermore, the process 100 includes measurements (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) at block 108, triggering of the handover process at block 110, and the handover process itself from the source gNB 104 to the target gNB 106 at block 112.

[0023] For UE-triggered L1 / L2-based handover, the UE may trigger L1 / L2 handover based on at least one of the following conditions: 1. When the quality of the target cell is greater than a specified threshold (e.g., a threshold configured by RRC signaling based on a range of RSRP / RSRQ / SINR); or 2. When the quality of the target cell is greater than the quality of the source cell plus a specified offset (e.g., an offset with a range of {-30, 30} dB configured by RRC signaling). It is worth noting that the quality of the cell may be measured based on one or more of the following metrics: 1. RSRP; 2. RSRQ; and / or 3. SINR. Such metrics may be generated using L1 / L2 filters. In addition, the conditions and / or metrics may be configured by RRC signaling and / or based on UE capabilities.

[0024] Figure 2 An exemplary process 200 for generating filtering results is shown. As shown, Figure 2 The example includes a sample set 202, sample signals 204 to 212 (ie, synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) or channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs)), filtering results 214 to 218, and sample subsets 220 to 224. In particular, Figure 2 It is shown that the filtering result can be based on averaging the results from the latest N samples for SSB / CSI-RS, or averaging the results from a time window. More specifically, filtering result 214 is generated based on sample signals 204 to 208 (i.e., time window 220 or sample subset 220), filtering result 216 is generated based on sample signals 206 to 210 (i.e., time window 222 or sample subset 222), and filtering result 218 is generated based on sample signals 208 to 212 (i.e., time window 224 or sample subset 224).

[0025] It is worth noting that the value of N or the duration of the time window may be configured by higher layer signaling and / or determined by the capabilities of a given UE. In addition, the results measured in the averaging window may be from the same UE beam.

[0026] Furthermore, at least two options for performing L1 / L2 filters may be utilized as follows: 1. performing the filter per SSB / CSI-RS resource; or 2. performing the filter based on average results from multiple SSB / CSI-RS resources.

[0027] To improve measurement accuracy, one of the following constraints or restrictions may be defined for the CSI-RS used for L1 / L2 filtered measurements: 1. The periodicity of the CSI-RS may not exceed x milliseconds (ms). In one example, x may not exceed 20 ms; 2. The CSI-RS may be a 1-port RS; 3. The minimum frequency density may be D resource elements / resource blocks (REs / RBs). In one example, D may be at least 3; 4. The bandwidth of the CSI-RS should be at least min{N_RB_max, N1}, where N_RB_max indicates the maximum number of RBs in the current bandwidth portion, and N1 may be predefined or reported by the UE capability; 5. The CSI-RS may be transmitted in a burst data structure. For each transmission instant, the CSI-RS may employ at least Y symbols (e.g., Y=4), where Y symbols may be allocated for a CSI-RS resource or for a CSI-RS resource set having Y CSI-RS resources that are quasi-co-located or from the same antenna port.

[0028] The following two options are available for UE-triggered L1 / L2-based handovers: 1. The UE sends a request to the source gNB, and any handover decisions are made by the source gNB's control signaling. For example, the gNB's control signaling for the handover could be MAC CE or DCI. 2. The UE directly initiates synchronization to the target cell without input from the source gNB. In such cases, the UE can still send a report to the source gNB regarding such handover to the target gNB.

[0029] Figure 3 A process 300 is shown for UE-triggered L1 / L2-based handover under the first option described above. As shown, the process 300 includes a UE 302, a source gNB 304, and a target gNB 306. Furthermore, the process 300 includes measurements (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) at block 308, triggering of the handover process at block 310, and a handover request 312 from the UE 302 to the source gNB 304.

[0030] The handover request can be transmitted using one of the following options: 1. The handover request is carried by a MAC CE. In this case, the gNB can configure a dedicated scheduling request (SR) for the UE to request uplink resources for the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) to transmit the MAC CE. Alternatively, the UE can use the normal SR procedure to request uplink resources. 2. The handover request is carried by the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). In this case, the gNB can configure N PUCCH resources for the UE. The UE can then select specific resources for transmitting the handover request. The handover request can include one or more of the following information: 1. The physical cell ID of the target gNB; 2. The measurement results of the target gNB; and 3. The measurement results of the source gNB.

[0031] Additionally, process 300 includes a handover command 314 from source gNB 304 to UE 302. N time slots after the UE sends the handover request, the UE may begin monitoring for a response (handover command) from the gNB. Such a response may be carried in a MAC CE or DCI. A dedicated search space and / or control resource set (CORESET) may be configured to schedule / transmit the response.

[0032] Additionally, the UE may start a timer for the handover request. If the timer expires before the UE receives a response, the UE may retransmit the handover request. Alternatively, if the UE receives a response before the timer expires, the timer may be reset. Note that the duration of the timer may be configured via RRC signaling. The gNB may also configure the maximum number of handover request retransmissions allowed. If the maximum number of handover request retransmissions is reached, the UE may declare a radio link failure.

[0033] Finally, process 300 includes synchronizing to the target gNB 316 after the UE receives the handover command from the gNB to complete the handover process.

[0034] In option 2 described above in connection with UE-triggered L1 / L2-based handover, the UE may start synchronization to the target cell directly without a handover command from the gNB, e.g. Figure 4 As shown, process 400 includes UE 402, source gNB 404, and target gNB 406. In addition, process 400 includes measurements (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) at block 408, triggering of a handover process at block 410, and handover notification 412 from UE 402 to source gNB 404.

[0035] In some embodiments, the handover notification 412 may include single-bit information, which may be carried by a dedicated PUCCH resource (e.g., such as a scheduling request) or by PUSCH / PRACH. In other embodiments, the handover notification 412 may include multiple bits of information. In such embodiments, for example, the UE may report the physical cell ID of the target gNB. In such cases, the handover notification 412 may be carried by PUCCH or MAC CE.

[0036] Finally, process 400 includes synchronizing to the target gNB 414 based on one or more configured resources to complete the handover process. In some embodiments, for example, one or more PRACH resources may be configured. In such cases, different resources may be associated with different beams, allowing the UE to select the beam with the best beam quality (e.g., best RSRP) to communicate with the target gNB. In other embodiments, the UE may select a PRACH resource and begin communicating with the target gNB in a contention-based manner.

[0037] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method 500 for performing UE-triggered lower layer-based handover is shown. In block 502, the method 500 performs measurements of a plurality of source gNB channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) samples associated with a source gNodeB (gNB), wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the source gNB are transmitted in a first burst structure. In block 504, the method 500 performs measurements of a plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples associated with a target gNB, wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the target gNB are transmitted in a second burst structure. In block 506, the method 500 filters at least a subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter and filters at least a subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter. In block 508, the method 500 generates a filtering result for each of the at least a subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the at least a subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples. In block 510, the method 500 determines whether a handover from a source gNB to a target gNB will occur based on the generated filtered subset for each of at least one subset of a plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and at least one subset of a plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples.

[0038] Figure 6An exemplary architecture of a network system 600 according to various embodiments is shown. The following description is provided for an exemplary system 600 operating in conjunction with LTE system standards and 5G or NR system standards provided by 3GPP technical specifications. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard and may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and the like.

[0039] like Figure 6 As shown, system 600 includes UE 602 and UE 604. In this example, UE 602 and UE 604 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as consumer electronic devices, mobile phones, smartphones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handheld devices, desktop computers, laptop computers, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), in-car entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (ICs), heads-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dashtop mobile equipment (DME), mobile data terminals (MDTs), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine electronic control units (ECUs), electronic / engine electronic control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMS), connected or “smart” appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, etc.

[0040] In some embodiments, UE 602 and / or UE 604 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. M2M or MTC data exchange may be machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-term connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0041] UE 602 and UE 604 may be configured to connect, e.g., be communicatively coupled, to an access node or radio access node (shown as (R)AN 616). In an embodiment, (R)AN 616 may be an NG RAN or SG RAN, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN, such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "NG RAN," etc., may refer to an (R)AN 616 operating in an NR or SG system, and the term "E-UTRAN," etc., may refer to an (R)AN 616 operating in an LTE or 4G system. UE 602 and UE 604 utilize connections (or channels) (shown as connection 606 and connection 608, respectively), each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0042] In this example, connection 606 and connection 608 are air interfaces to achieve communication coupling and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a SG protocol, a NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, UE 602 and UE 604 may also directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 610. The ProSe interface 610 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink (SL) interface 110 and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a PSCCH, a PSSCH, a PSDCH, and a PSBCH.

[0043] UE 604 is shown as being configured to access AP 612 (also referred to as a "WLAN node," "WLAN," "WLAN terminal," "WT," etc.) via connection 614. Connection 614 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 612 would include Wireless Fidelity. router. In this example, AP 612 may be connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 604, (R)AN 616, and AP 612 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE 604 in RRC_CONNECTED being configured by RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operation may involve UE 604 using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 614) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over connection 614. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0044] (R)AN 616 may include one or more nodes that implement connection 606 and connection 608, such as RAN node 618 and RAN node 620. As used herein, the terms "access node," "access point," and the like may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BSs, gNBs, RAN nodes, eNBs, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxPs, or TRPs, and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the terms "NG RAN node" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) operating in NR or SG systems, while the terms "E-UTRAN node" and the like may refer to RAN nodes (e.g., eNBs) operating in LTE or 4G systems 600. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 618 or the RAN node 620 may be implemented as one or more of dedicated physical devices such as a macrocell base station and / or a low power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell, or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

[0045] In some embodiments, all or part of RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN and / or a virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional splits, such as PDCP splits, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 618 or RAN node 620); MAC / PHY splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN nodes (e.g., RAN node 618 or RAN node 620); or "lower PHY" splits, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers, and upper portions of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN / vBBUP, and the lower portions of the PHY layers are operated by individual RAN nodes. This virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of the RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 to execute other virtualized applications. In some implementations, each RAN node may represent a node connected via each F1 interface ( Figure 66. In some implementations, the gNB-DUs may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs, and the gNB-CUs may be operated by a server (not shown) located in the (R)AN 616 or by a pool of servers in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, the RAN node 618 or one or more of the RAN nodes 620 may be next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations to the UE 602 and the UE 604 and are connected to the SGC via an NG interface (discussed below). In V2X scenarios, one or more of the RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 may be or function as an RSU.

[0046] The term "roadside unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. The RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be referred to as a "UE-type RSU," an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be referred to as an "eNB-type RSU," an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be referred to as a "gNB-type RSU," and so on. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled to RF circuitry located on the roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs (vUEs). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate on the 5.9 GHz Direct Short Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide extremely low-latency communications required for high-speed events such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low-latency communications and other cellular communication services. In addition or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4 GHz band) and / or provide a connection to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the RSU's RF circuits may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or backhaul network.

[0047] The RAN node 618 and / or the RAN node 620 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 602 and the UE 604. In some embodiments, the RAN node 618 and / or the RAN node 620 may perform various logical functions of the (R)AN 616, including but not limited to functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0048] In an embodiment, UE 602 and UE 604 may be configured to communicate with each other or with RAN node 618 and / or RAN node 620 using OFDM communication signals over a multi-carrier communication channel in accordance with various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0049] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from RAN node 618 and / or RAN node 620 to UE 602 and UE 604, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources in the downlink per time slot. This type of time-frequency plane representation is common for OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes multiple resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this can represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0050] According to various embodiments, UE 602 and UE 604 and RAN node 618 and / or RAN node 620 communicate (e.g., transmit and receive) data over a licensed medium (also referred to as "licensed spectrum" and / or "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum" and / or "unlicensed band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5 GHz band.

[0051] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UE 602 and UE 604 and RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, UE 602 and UE 604 and RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and / or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmitting in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier sensing operations may be performed according to a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0052] LBT is a mechanism for equipment (e.g., UE 602 and UE 604, RAN node 618 or RAN node 620, etc.) to sense the medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmit when the medium is sensed to be idle (or when a particular channel in the medium is sensed to be unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include CCA, which utilizes at least ED to determine whether other signals are present on the channel to determine whether the channel is occupied or idle. The LBT mechanism allows cellular / LAA networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over a period of time on an intended transmission band and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

[0053] Typically, existing systems in the 5 GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 602, AP 612, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmitting. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions. The backoff mechanism may be a counter randomly introduced within the CWS that increases exponentially when a collision occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to CSMA / CA for WLAN. In some implementations, the LBT process for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmission) may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values of the CWS for LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmissions may be 9 microseconds (μs); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (eg, transmission burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0054] The LAA mechanism is built on the Carrier Access (CA) technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, resulting in a maximum aggregate bandwidth of 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers can be different for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC can have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are generally the same for DL and UL.

[0055] CA also includes individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cells may be different, for example, because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide the PCC for both UL and DL and may handle activities related to RRC and NAS. The other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell may provide individual SCCs for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, and changing the PCC may require the UE 602 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the SCells may operate in unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and the LAA SCells are assisted by the PCells operating in the licensed spectrum. When a UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells indicating different PUSCH starting positions within the same subframe.

[0056] The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to UE 602 and UE 604. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation associated with the PDSCH channel. It may also inform UE 602 and UE 604 about the transport format, resource allocation, and HARQ information associated with the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 604 within a cell) may be performed at either RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 based on channel quality information fed back from either UE 602 or UE 604. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of UE 602 and UE 604.

[0057] PDCCH uses CCE to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruples, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, respectively, called REGs. Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the DCI and the channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0058] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to a set of nine physical resource elements, called EREGs, including four physical resource elements. In some cases, an ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0059] RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 622. In an embodiment where system 600 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 630 is an EPC), interface 622 may be an X2 interface. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more eNBs, etc.) connected to the EPC, and / or between two eNBs connected to the EPC. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface and may be used to convey information regarding the delivery of user data between eNBs. For example, the X2-U may provide specific sequence number information regarding user data transmitted from the MeNB to the SeNB; information regarding successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs for user data from the SeNB to the UE 602; information regarding PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to the UE 602; information regarding the current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmitting user data to the UE; and the like. X2-C provides intra-LTE access mobility functions, including context transfer from the source eNB to the target eNB, user plane transmission control, load management functions, and inter-cell interference coordination functions.

[0060] In embodiments where system 600 is an SG or NR system (e.g., when CN 630 is an SGC), interface 622 may be an Xn interface. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes (e.g., two or more gNBs, etc.) connected to an SGC, between a RAN node 618 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB connected to an SGC, and / or between two eNBs connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 630). In some implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support / provide data forwarding and flow control functionality. Xn-C may provide management and error handling functionality for managing the functionality of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for UE 602 in connected mode (e.g., CM connection) includes functionality for managing connected mode UE mobility between one or more RAN nodes 618 or RAN nodes 620. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 618 to the new (target) serving RAN node 620, as well as control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 618 and the new (target) serving RAN node 620. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer built on top of the UDP and / or IP layers for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (referred to as the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on SCTP. SCTP may be built on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Within the transport IP layer, signaling PDUs are delivered using point-to-point transport. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0061] (R)AN 616 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the core network—in this embodiment, to CN 630. CN 630 may include one or more network elements 632 configured to provide various data and telecommunication services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE 602 and UE 604) connected to CN 630 via (R)AN 616. Components of CN 630 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-transitory machine-readable storage media). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). A logical instance of CN 630 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instance of a portion of CN 630 may be referred to as a network sub-slice. NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources comprising a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively, performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system can be used to perform virtual or reconfigurable implementations of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0062] Generally speaking, the application server 634 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 634 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE 602 and UE 604 via the EPC. The application server 634 may communicate with the CN 630 via the IP communication interface 636.

[0063] In an embodiment, CN 630 may be an SGC, and (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 630 via an NG interface 624. In an embodiment, NG interface 624 may be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 626, which carries traffic data between RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 and UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 628, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 and AMF.

[0064] In an embodiment, CN 630 may be an SG CN, while in other embodiments, CN 630 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 630 is an EPC, (R)AN 116 may be connected to CN 630 via an S1 interface 624. In an embodiment, S1 interface 624 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 626, which carries traffic data between RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 and S-GW; and an S1-MME interface 628, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 618 or RAN node 620 and MME.

[0065] Figure 7 An example of infrastructure equipment 700 according to various embodiments is shown. The infrastructure equipment 700 can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node, an AN, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. In other examples, the infrastructure equipment 700 can be implemented in or by a UE.

[0066] The infrastructure equipment 700 includes application circuitry 702, baseband circuitry 704, one or more radio front-end modules 706 (RFEMs), memory circuitry 708, a power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 710), a power tee circuit 712, a network controller circuit 714, a network interface connector 720, a satellite positioning circuit 716, and a user interface circuit 718. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment 700 may include additional components such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, these components may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuitry may be separately included in more than one device for a CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementation. The application circuitry 702 includes components such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more low dropout regulators (LDOs), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, an I / O port, and a serial port. 2C or general programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, general input / output (I / O or IO), a memory card controller such as a secure digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar product, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface, and a joint test access group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 702 can be coupled to or can include a memory / storage element and can be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage device to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the infrastructure equipment 700. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element can be an on-chip memory circuit that can include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0067] The processor of the application circuit 702 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more complex instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 702 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating in accordance with various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 702 may include one or more Intel or Processor: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), or processors; ARM Holdings, Ltd. licensed ARM-based processors, such as the ARM Cortex-A series processors provided by Cavium (TM), Inc. and MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior P-class processor; etc. In some embodiments, the infrastructure equipment 700 may not utilize application circuitry 702 and instead may include a dedicated processor / controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5GC.

[0068] In some implementations, the application circuit 702 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, and the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more field programmable devices (FPDs), such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (CPLDs) and high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs, such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such implementations, the circuitry of the application circuit 702 may include logic blocks or logic architectures, as well as other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 702 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuse, etc.)) for storing logic blocks, logic structures, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT), etc. The baseband circuitry 704 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0069] The user interface circuitry 718 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the infrastructure equipment 700 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable a peripheral component to interact with the infrastructure equipment 700. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio transmitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power port, etc.

[0070] The radio front-end module 706 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) radio front-end module (RFEM) and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separate from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-millimeter wave radio functionality may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 706, incorporating both mmWave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0071] The memory circuit 708 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM) including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as "flash memory"), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may be combined with and The memory circuit 708 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a socket memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0072] The PMIC 710 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as batteries or capacitors. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (brownout) and a surge (overvoltage). The power tee circuit 712 may provide power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity for the infrastructure equipment 700 using a single cable.

[0073] The network controller circuit 714 can provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet, Ethernet based on GRE tunnels, Ethernet based on Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity can be provided to / from the infrastructure equipment 700 via the network interface connector 720 using a physical connection, which can be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. The network controller circuit 714 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 714 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0074] The positioning circuit 716 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by the positioning network of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., using the Indian constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbit Chart and Satellite Integrated Radio Positioning (DORIS), etc. for navigation). The positioning circuit 716 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of the positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 716 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 716 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 704 and / or the radio front end module 706 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 716 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 702, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure, etc. Figure 7 The components shown may communicate with each other using interface circuitry that may include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended ISA (EISA), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended (PCix), PCI express (PCie), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems may be included, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0075] Figure 8 An example of a platform 800 according to various embodiments is shown. In an embodiment, the computer platform 800 may be suitable for use as a UE, an application server, and / or any other element / device discussed herein. The platform 800 may include any combination of components shown in the examples. The components of the platform 800 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions of ICs, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof adapted into the computer platform 800, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of a larger system. Figure 8 The block diagram is intended to show a high-level view of the components of computer platform 800. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementations.

[0076] Application circuit 802 includes circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and LDO, interrupt controller, serial interface (such as SPI), I 2 The application circuit 802 may include one or more of a C or general purpose programmable serial interface module, an RTC, a timer (including an interval timer and a watchdog timer), general purpose IO, a memory card controller (such as an SD MMC or similar controller), a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 802 may be coupled to or may include a memory / storage element and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage element to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the platform 800. In some specific implementations, the memory / storage element may be an on-chip memory circuit that may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

[0077] The processor of the application circuit 802 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, a multi-threaded processor, an ultra-low voltage processor, an embedded processor, some other known processing element, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 802 may include or may be a dedicated processor / controller for operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0078] As an example, the processor of the application circuit 802 may include a processor based on Architecture TM Processors such as Quark TM 、Atom TM , i3, i5, i7 or MCU-class processors, or can be purchased from The processor of application circuit 802 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from Inc.'s AS-A9 processor, Snapdragon by Technologies, Inc.TM processors, Texas Instruments, OpenMultimedia Applications Platform(OMAP) TM processors; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc., such as the MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings, Ltd., such as the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M series processors; etc. In some implementations, the application circuit 802 can be part of a system on a chip (SoC), in which the application circuit 802 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as available from Edison Corporation TM or Galileo TM SoC board.

[0079] Additionally or alternatively, application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more field programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs; programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as complex PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs); ASICs such as structured ASICs; programmable SoCs (PSoCs); and the like. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 802 may include logic blocks or logic fabrics, as well as other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, and the like of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 802 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuse), and the like) for storing logic blocks, logic fabrics, data, and the like in lookup tables (LUTs) and the like.

[0080] Baseband circuitry 804 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0081] The radio front-end module 806 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) radio front-end module (RFEM) and one or more sub-millimeter wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separate from the mmWave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays, and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both mmWave and sub-millimeter wave radio functionality may be implemented in the same physical radio front-end module 806, incorporating both mmWave antennas and sub-millimeter waves.

[0082] Memory circuit 808 may include any number and type of memory devices used to provide a fixed amount of system memory. For example, memory circuit 808 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SD RAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. Memory circuit 808 may be developed according to Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) low-power double data rate (LPDDR)-based designs, such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. Memory circuit 808 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in package integrated circuit, a single die package (SDP), a dual die package (DDP), or a quad die package (Q17P), a socketed memory module, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) (including micro-DIMMs or mini-DIMMs, and / or soldered to a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA)). In a low-power implementation, the memory circuit 808 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with the application circuit 802. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., the memory circuit 808 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among others, a solid-state disk drive (SSDD), a hard disk drive (HDD), a micro HDD, a resistive change memory, a phase change memory, a holographic memory, or a chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 800 may be combined with a memory device obtained from and Three-dimensional (3D) cross-point (XPOINT) memory.

[0083] Removable storage circuitry 814 may include devices, circuitry, housings / casings, ports or receptacles, etc., for coupling portable data storage devices to platform 800. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, etc.

[0084] Platform 800 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for connecting external devices to platform 800. External devices connected to platform 800 via the interface circuitry include sensors 810 and electromechanical components (shown as EMC 812), as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memory 814.

[0085] Sensors 810 include devices, modules, or subsystems whose purpose is to detect events or changes in their environment and to send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an inertial measurement unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) including a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and / or a magnetometer; a fluid level sensor; a flow sensor; a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor); a pressure sensor; a barometric pressure sensor; a gravity meter; an altimeter; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; a proximity sensor (e.g., an infrared radiation detector, etc.), a depth sensor, an ambient light sensor, an ultrasonic transceiver; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; etc.

[0086] The EMC 812 includes devices, modules, or subsystems intended to enable the platform 800 to change its state, position, and / or orientation, or to move or control mechanisms or (sub) systems. In addition, the EMC 812 can be configured to generate messages / signaling and send messages / signaling to other components of the platform 800 to indicate the current state of the EMC 812. Examples of the EMC 812 include one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 800 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 812 based on one or more capture events and / or instructions or control signals received from a service provider and / or various clients. In some implementations, an interface circuit can connect the platform 800 to the positioning circuit 822. The positioning circuit 822 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcasted by a GNSS positioning network. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.). The positioning circuit 822 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communications) to communicate with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 822 may include a micro PNT IC that uses a master timing clock to perform position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuit 822 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 804 and / or the radio front-end module 806 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. Positioning circuitry 822 may also provide location data and / or time data to application circuitry 802 , which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (eg, radio base stations) for use in turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

[0087] In some implementations, the interface circuitry can connect the platform 800 to a near-field communication circuit (illustrated as NFC circuitry 820). The NFC circuitry 820 is configured to provide contactless, short-range communication based on the radio frequency identification (RFID) standard, where magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuitry 820 and an NFC-enabled device (e.g., an "NFC touchpoint") external to the platform 800. The NFC circuitry 820 includes an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller can be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuitry 820 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack can be executed by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware can be executed by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit short-range RF signals. The RF signals can power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to the NFC circuitry 820, or initiate data transfer between the NFC circuitry 820 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or an NFC-enabled POS terminal) in close proximity to the platform 800.

[0088] The driver circuitry 824 may include software and hardware components for controlling specific devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 800. The driver circuitry 824 may include various drivers to allow other components of the platform 800 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present within or connected to the platform 800. For example, the driver circuitry 824 may include a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to a touch screen interface of the platform 800, a sensor driver for obtaining sensor readings and controlling and allowing access to the sensor 810, an EMC driver for obtaining actuator positions and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 812, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0089] A power management integrated circuit (shown as PMIC 816) (also referred to as a "power management circuit") can manage the power provided to various components of the platform 800. Specifically, the PMIC 816 can control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion with respect to the baseband circuit 804. The PMIC 816 is typically included when the platform 800 is capable of being powered by a battery 818, such as when the device is included in a UE.

[0090] In some embodiments, the PMIC 816 can control or otherwise be part of various power-saving mechanisms of the platform 800. For example, if the platform 800 is in the RRC_Connected state, in which it remains connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity, the platform can enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the platform 800 can be powered down for short intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the platform 800 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which it is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. The platform 800 enters a very low-power state and performs paging, in which the platform periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The platform 800 may not receive data in this state; to do so, the platform must transition back to the RRC_Connected state. Additional power-saving modes can prevent the device from using the network for periods exceeding the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered off. Any data sent during this time will incur significant delays, assuming that the delay is acceptable.

[0091] The battery 818 can power the platform 800, but in some examples, the platform 800 can be installed in a fixed location and can have a power source coupled to the grid. The battery 818 can be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, etc. In some implementations, such as in V2X applications, the battery 818 can be a typical lead-acid car battery.

[0092] In some implementations, the battery 818 can be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a battery management system (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS can be included in the platform 800 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 818. The BMS can be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 818, such as the state of health (SoH) and state of function (SoF) of the battery 818 to provide fault prediction. The BMS can transmit information about the battery 818 to the application circuit 802 or other components of the platform 800. The BMS can also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 802 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 818 or the current from the battery 818. The battery parameters can be used to determine actions that the platform 800 can perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, etc.

[0093] A power brick or other power source coupled to the grid can be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 818. In some examples, the power brick can be replaced with a wireless power receiver to wirelessly obtain power, for example, via a loop antenna in the computer platform 800. In these examples, wireless battery charging circuitry can be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected can depend on the size of the battery 818 and, therefore, the required current. Charging can be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the Aviation Fuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium.

[0094] The user interface circuit 826 includes various input / output (I / O) devices present within or connected to the platform 800, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to implement user interaction with the platform 800 and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to implement interaction with peripheral components of the platform 800. The user interface circuit 826 includes input device circuits and output device circuits. The input device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, in particular, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a trackpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information (such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information). The output device circuitry may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, particularly including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators such as binary status indicators (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs such as a display device or touch screen (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), an LED display, a quantum dot display, a projector, etc.), where the output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. is generated or produced by the operation of the platform 800. The output device circuitry may also include a speaker or other audio emitting device, a printer, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor 810 may function as an input device circuitry (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.) and one or more EMCs may function as output device circuitry (e.g., an actuator for providing tactile feedback, etc.). In another example, an NFC circuit may be included to read an electronic tag and / or connect to another NFC-enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled to an antenna element. Peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power port, etc.

[0095] Although not shown, the components of the platform 800 may communicate with each other using a suitable bus or interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCix, PCie, a time-triggered protocol (TTP) system, a FlexRay system, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX, such as used in SoC-based systems. Other bus / IX systems, such as I 2 C interface, SPI interface, point-to-point interface and power bus, etc.

[0096] Figure 9 Example components of a device 900 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include at least application circuitry 902, baseband circuitry 904, radio frequency (RF) circuitry (shown as RF circuitry 920), front-end module (FEM) circuitry (shown as FEM circuitry 930), one or more antennas 932, and power management circuitry (PMC) (shown as PMC 934), coupled together as shown. The components of the example device 900 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 900 may include fewer components (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 902 but instead include a processor / controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 900 may include additional components such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, sensors, or input / output (I / O) interfaces. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuitry may be included separately in more than one device for a Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementation).

[0097] The application circuit 902 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuit 902 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The one or more processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and specialized processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). These processors may be coupled to or include memory / storage devices and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage devices to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 900. In some embodiments, the processors of the application circuit 902 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0098] The baseband circuitry 904 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 904 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 920 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 920. The baseband circuitry 904 may interact with the application circuitry 902 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuitry 920. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor (3G baseband processor 906), a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor (4G baseband processor 908), a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor (5G baseband processor 910), or other baseband processors 912 of other existing generations, generations under development, or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 904 (e.g., one or more baseband processors) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 920. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of the exemplary baseband processor may be included in modules stored in the memory 918 and executed via the central processing unit (CPU 914). Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 904 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functionality. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 904 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functionality. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functionality is not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0099] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 904 may include a digital signal processor (DSP), such as one or more audio DSPs 916. The one or more audio DSPs 916 may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and in other embodiments may include other suitable processing elements. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or provided on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 904 and the application circuit 902 may be implemented together, such as on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0100] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 can provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 904 can support communications with the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), and wireless personal area networks (WPANs). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 904 is configured to support radio communications using more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[0101] RF circuitry 920 can communicate with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 920 can include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 920 can include a receive signal path that can include circuitry for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuitry 930 and providing a baseband signal to baseband circuitry 904. RF circuitry 920 can also include a transmit signal path that can include circuitry for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 904 and providing an RF output signal to FEM circuitry 930 for transmission.

[0102] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuitry 920 may include mixer circuitry 922, amplifier circuitry 924, and filter circuitry 926. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 920 may include filter circuitry 926 and mixer circuitry 922. RF circuitry 920 may also include synthesizer circuitry 928 for synthesizing frequencies for use by mixer circuitry 922 in the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 922 in the receive signal path may be configured to downconvert the RF signal received from FEM circuitry 930 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 928. Amplifier circuitry 924 may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and filter circuitry 926 may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or a band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 904 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0103] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 922 of the transmit signal path can be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 928 to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuitry 930. The baseband signal can be provided by baseband circuitry 904 and can be filtered by filter circuitry 926.

[0104] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 922 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuit 922 of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0105] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuitry 920 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuitry 904 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuitry 920.

[0106] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0107] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 928 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 928 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0108] Synthesizer circuit 928 may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by mixer circuit 922 of RF circuit 920. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 928 may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0109] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 904 or application circuitry 902 (such as an application processor) depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by application circuitry 902.

[0110] The synthesizer circuit 928 of the RF circuit 920 may include a frequency divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0111] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 928 can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and can be used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases relative to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 920 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0112] The FEM circuitry 930 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 932, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuitry 920 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 930 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by the RF circuitry 920 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 932. In various embodiments, amplification by either the transmit or receive signal path may be performed only in the RF circuitry 920, only in the FEM circuitry 930, or in both the RF circuitry 920 and the FEM circuitry 930.

[0113] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 930 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit and receive modes of operation. The FEM circuit 930 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 930 may include an LNA to amplify a received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 920). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 930 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 920), and one or more filters to generate an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., via one or more of the one or more antennas 932).

[0114] In some embodiments, the PMC 934 can manage the power provided to the baseband circuitry 904. Specifically, the PMC 934 can control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When the device 900 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device 900 is included in a UE, the PMC 934 is typically included. The PMC 934 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

[0115] Figure 9 PMC 934 is shown coupled only to baseband circuitry 904. However, in other embodiments, PMC 934 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components (such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 902, RF circuitry 920, or FEM circuitry 930) and perform similar power management operations for these components.

[0116] In some embodiments, the PMC 934 can control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 900. For example, if the device 900 is in the RRC_Connected state, where the device is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, then after a period of inactivity, the device can enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the device 900 can be powered down for short intervals, thereby saving power.

[0117] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 900 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handovers, etc. The device 900 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 900 cannot receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, the device must transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0118] An additional power saving mode can disable the device from using the network for periods exceeding the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to several hours). During this period, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered down. Any data sent during this period will incur significant latency, assuming that latency is acceptable.

[0119] The processor of the application circuitry 902 and the processor of the baseband circuitry 904 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuitry 904 can be used, alone or in combination, to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuitry 902 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., transport communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, which is described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which are described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a physical (PHY) layer of the UE / RAN node, which is described in further detail below.

[0120] Figure 10 1 shows an exemplary interface 1000 of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments. As described above, Figure 9 The baseband circuit 904 may include a 3G baseband processor 906, a 4G baseband processor 908, a 5G baseband processor 910, other baseband processors 912, a CPU 914, and a memory 918 used by the processor. As shown, each of these processors may include a corresponding memory interface 1002 to send data to / receive data from the memory 918.

[0121] The baseband circuit 904 may also include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 1004 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 904), an application circuit interface 1006 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 904), and an application circuit interface 1007 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 904). Figure 9 The application circuit 902 sends / receives data), the RF circuit interface 1008 (for example, for sending / receiving data to / from the application circuit 902). Figure 9 an interface for transmitting / receiving data to / from a RF circuit 920), a wireless hardware connection interface 1010 (eg, for transmitting / receiving data to / from a near field communication (NFC) component, Components (e.g. Low power consumption), components and other communication components to send / receive data) and a power management interface 1012 (for example, an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from the PMC 934).

[0122] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a component 1100 capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments. Specifically, Figure 11 A diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1102 is shown including one or more processors 1112 (or processor cores), one or more memory / storage devices 1118, and one or more communication resources 1120, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1122. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1104 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / subslices to utilize the hardware resources 1102.

[0123] Processor 1112 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 1114 and processor 1116.

[0124] The memory / storage device 1118 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1118 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0125] The communication resources 1120 may include interconnect or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1106 or one or more databases 1108 via the network 1110. For example, the communication resources 1120 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Components (e.g. Low power consumption), components and other communication components.

[0126] The instructions 1124 may include software, a program, an application, an applet, an application, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 1112 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1124 may reside, in whole or in part, within at least one of the processor 1112 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 1118, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1124 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1102 from any combination of the peripheral device 1106 or the database 1108. Thus, the memory of the processor 1112, the memory / storage device 1118, the peripheral device 1106, and the database 1108 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0127] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods described in the Examples section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the following examples. For another example, circuitry associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples shown in the Examples section below.

[0128] Examples

[0129] The following examples relate to additional embodiments.

[0130] Embodiment 1A may include an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to: perform measurements of a plurality of source gNB channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) samples associated with a source gNB, wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the source gNB are transmitted in a first burst structure; perform measurements of a plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples associated with a target gNB, wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the target gNB are transmitted in a second burst structure; filter at least a subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter and filter at least a subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples using the layer 1 or layer 2 filter; generate a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples; and generate a filtering result based on the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples. a generated filtering result for each of the at least one subset of CSI-RS samples to determine whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur; and a memory configured to store information associated with performing a UE-triggered lower layer-based handover.

[0131] Embodiment 2A may include the apparatus of embodiment 1A, wherein determining whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur comprises identifying one or more conditions associated with determining that the handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur.

[0132] Embodiment 3A may include the apparatus of embodiment 2A, wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of determining whether a quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples is greater than a first specified offset, and determining whether a quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples is greater than the quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples plus a second specified offset.

[0133] Embodiment 4A may include the apparatus of embodiment 3A, wherein the quality of the generated filtering result comprises one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0134] Embodiment 5A may include the apparatus of embodiment 1A, wherein generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples comprises averaging each sample in the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples, and generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples comprises averaging each sample in the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples.

[0135] Embodiment 6A may include the apparatus of embodiment 1A, wherein transmitting the source gNB CSI-RS samples in the first burst structure and transmitting the target gNB CSI-RS samples in the second burst structure comprises transmitting each of the source gNB CSI-RS samples and the target gNB CSI-RS samples using a plurality of quasi-co-located symbols.

[0136] Embodiment 7A may include the apparatus of embodiment 1A, wherein the periodicity of both the CSI-RS associated with the source gNB and the CSI-RS associated with the target gNB does not exceed 20 milliseconds (ms).

[0137] Embodiment 8A may include a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform a UE-triggered lower layer-based handover, cause the processor to: perform measurements of a plurality of source gNB channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) samples associated with a source gNB, wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the source gNB are transmitted in a first burst structure; perform measurements of a plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples associated with a target gNB, wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the target gNB are transmitted in a second burst structure; filter at least a subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter and filter at least a subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter; generate a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples; and generate a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples based on the plurality of source gNBs. The at least one subset of CSI-RS samples and the generated filtering results for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples determine whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur.

[0138] Embodiment 9A may include the computer-readable storage medium of embodiment 8A, wherein determining whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur comprises identifying one or more conditions associated with determining that the handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur.

[0139] Embodiment 10A may include the computer-readable storage medium of embodiment 9A, wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of determining whether a quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples is greater than a first specified offset, and determining whether a quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples is greater than the quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples plus a second specified offset.

[0140] Embodiment 11A may include the computer-readable storage medium of embodiment 10A, wherein the quality of the generated filtering result comprises one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0141] Embodiment 12A may include the computer-readable storage medium of embodiment 8A, wherein generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples comprises averaging each sample in the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples, and generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples comprises averaging each sample in the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples.

[0142] Embodiment 13A may include the computer-readable storage medium of embodiment 8A, wherein the timing window associated with each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and each of the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples includes three source gNB CSI-RS samples and three target gNB CSI-RS samples.

[0143] Embodiment 14A may include the computer-readable storage medium of embodiment 13A, wherein the duration of the timing window is determined based on one or more capabilities of the UE.

[0144] Embodiment 15A may include a method for performing a UE-triggered lower layer based handover, the method comprising: performing measurements of a plurality of source gNB channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) samples associated with a source gNodeB (gNB), wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the source gNB are transmitted in a first burst structure; performing measurements of a plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples associated with a target gNB, wherein the CSI-RS samples associated with the target gNB are transmitted in a second burst structure; filtering at least a subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples using a layer 1 or layer 2 filter and filtering at least a subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples using the layer 1 or layer 2 filter; generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples; and performing a filtering operation based on the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples. The generated filtering result for each of the at least one subset of CSI-RS samples determines whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur.

[0145] Embodiment 16A may include the method of embodiment 15A, wherein determining whether a handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur includes identifying one or more conditions associated with determining that the handover from the source gNB to the target gNB will occur.

[0146] Embodiment 17A may include the method of embodiment 16A, wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of determining whether a quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the multiple target gNB CSI-RS samples is greater than a first specified offset, and determining whether a quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the multiple target gNB CSI-RS samples is greater than the quality of the generated filtering result for the at least one subset of the multiple source gNB CSI-RS samples plus a second specified offset.

[0147] Embodiment 18A may include the method of embodiment 17A, wherein the quality of the generated filtering result comprises one of reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0148] Embodiment 19A may include the method of embodiment 15A, wherein generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples comprises averaging each sample in the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples, and generating a filtering result for each of the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples comprises averaging each sample in the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples.

[0149] Embodiment 20A may include the method of embodiment 15A, wherein the timing window associated with each of the at least one subset of the plurality of source gNB CSI-RS samples and each of the at least one subset of the plurality of target gNB CSI-RS samples includes three source gNB CSI-RS samples and three target gNB CSI-RS samples.

[0150] Embodiment 1B may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or any other method or process described herein.

[0151] Embodiment 2B may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0152] Embodiment 3B may include an apparatus comprising logic components, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of the above embodiments or any other method or process described herein.

[0153] Embodiment 4B may include methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to any of the above embodiments, or portions or components thereof.

[0154] Embodiment 5B may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, the one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portion thereof, described in or related to any one of the above embodiments.

[0155] Embodiment 6B may include signals or portions or components thereof as described in or related to any one of the above embodiments.

[0156] Embodiment 7B may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU) or message or a portion or component thereof as described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0157] Embodiment 8B may include a signal encoded with data, or a portion or component thereof, as described in any of the above embodiments or in connection therewith, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0158] Embodiment 9B may include a signal or portion or component thereof encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, PDU or message as described in any of the above embodiments or related thereto, or as otherwise described in this disclosure.

[0159] Embodiment 10B may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portion thereof, as described in or related to any of the above embodiments.

[0160] Embodiment 11B may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique, or process, or a portion thereof, as described in or related to any one of the above embodiments.

[0161] Embodiment 12B may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0162] Embodiment 13B may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0163] Embodiment 14B may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0164] Embodiment 15B may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0165] Unless expressly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the various embodiments.

[0166] Embodiments and implementations of the systems and methods described herein may include various operations that may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to be executed by a computer system. A computer system may include one or more general-purpose or special-purpose computers (or other electronic devices). A computer system may include hardware components that include specific logic components for performing the operations, or may include a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0167] It should be understood that the systems described herein include descriptions of specific embodiments. These embodiments can be combined into a single system, partially integrated into other systems, separated into multiple systems, or otherwise divided or combined. In addition, it is contemplated that parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of one embodiment can be used in another embodiment. For clarity, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. are described only in one or more embodiments, and it should be understood that unless otherwise stated herein, these parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. can be combined with or substituted for parameters, attributes, aspects, etc. of another embodiment.

[0168] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0169] Although the foregoing has been described in considerable detail for purposes of clarity, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of the invention. It should be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing both the processes and the apparatus described herein. The embodiments of the present invention are therefore to be considered illustrative and not restrictive, and the description is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for a user equipment (UE) for lower layer based handover, the method comprising: performing measurements of a plurality of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) samples from a source base station and a target base station; triggering a lower layer handover procedure at the UE based on the performed measurements; receiving a layer 1 (L1) / layer 2 (L2) based handover command from the source base station, wherein the L1 / L2 based handover command instructs the UE to perform the lower layer handover procedure; as well as In response to receiving the L1 / L2-based handover command from the source base station, performing the lower layer handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the L1 / L2 based handover command is received in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC CE) message. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein triggering the lower layer handover process further comprises sending a handover request to the source base station. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the handover request is sent in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (MAC CE) message.

5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: Starting a timer after sending the handover request; as well as When the timer expires, the handover request is resent.

6. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: In response to sending the handover request, monitoring the L1 / L2 based handover command.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the handover request is carried by a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH).

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the handover request includes one or more of a physical cell identifier (ID) of the target base station, a measurement result of the target base station, and a measurement result of the source base station.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: In response to performing the lower layer handover procedure, the UE is synchronized with the target base station.

10. A method for a source base station for lower layer-based handover, the method comprising: receiving a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC CE) handover request from a user equipment (UE) instructing the UE to trigger a lower layer handover procedure; as well as A layer 1 (L1) / layer 2 (L2) based handover command is sent to the UE, where the L1 / L2 based handover command instructs the UE to perform the lower layer handover procedure.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: A dedicated search space or a control resource set (CORESET) is configured for transmitting the L1 / L2-based handover command.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: A second MAC CE handover request is received from the UE.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: A dedicated scheduling request (SR) for receiving the first MAC CE handover request is configured at the base station.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: N physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources are configured at the base station, wherein the UE uses one of the N PUCCH resources to transmit the MAC CE switching request.

15. A baseband processor of a user equipment (UE) for lower layer based handover, the baseband processor comprising: A circuit, the circuit being configured to: performing measurements of a plurality of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) samples from a source base station and a target base station; triggering a lower layer handover procedure at the UE based on the performed measurements; receiving a layer 1 (L1) / layer 2 (L2) based handover command from the source base station, wherein the L1 / L2 based handover command instructs the UE to perform the lower layer handover procedure; as well as In response to receiving the L1 / L2-based handover command from the source base station, performing the lower layer handover procedure from the source base station to the target base station.

16. The baseband processor of claim 15, wherein the L1 / L2 based handover command is received in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC CE) message.

17. The baseband processor of claim 15, wherein triggering the lower layer handover process further comprises sending a handover request to the source base station.

18. The baseband processor of claim 17, wherein the handover request is sent in a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC CE) message.

19. The baseband processor of claim 17, wherein the circuit is further configured to: starting a timer after sending the handover request; and When the timer expires, the handover request is resent.

20. The baseband processor of claim 17, wherein the circuit is further configured to monitor the L1 / L2 based handover command in response to sending the handover request.

Images