Method and apparatus for power control for uplink-one transmission and reception point trp

Abstract

Systems and methods for power control for uplink only transmission and / or receiving point (TRP) in a wireless network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) for uplink power control in a wireless network comprising a network node includes receiving a power offset associated with an uplink transmission of an uplink channel from the network node; calculating a path loss based on the downlink reference signal; and determining an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel as a function of the path loss calculated based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network node, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel. The method further includes transmitting an uplink channel at the determined transmit power. In this manner, uplink power control is provided for uplink transmissions in a manner suitable for uplink-only TRP.

Description

Related applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63 / 582,963, filed on September 15, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to cellular communication systems, and more specifically, to uplink power control. Background Technology

[0003] Data scheduling in the 3GPP New Radio (NR) is typically based on time slots. Figure 1 The example shown is a 14-symbol time slot with a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, where the first two symbols in the time slot contain the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the remaining symbols in the time slot contain the Physical Shared Data Channel, i.e., the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0004] Downlink (DL) transmissions can be dynamically scheduled on a time-slot basis. Scheduling information (such as resource allocation and modulation order) is included in the downlink control information (DCI) carried by the PDCCH. DL user data is carried in the PDSCH.

[0005] The DCI carried in the PDCCH can also be used to dynamically schedule uplink (UL) data transmission. The User Equipment (UE) first decodes the uplink license in the DCI, and then sends data in the PUSCH based on the scheduling information in the uplink license.

[0006] In addition to dynamic scheduling of PUSCH, NR also supports semi-persistent transmission of periodic PUSCH using configuration licenses (CG). In CG type 1, the period and slot offset are configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC). In CG type 2, PUSCH transmission can be dynamically activated or deactivated by DCI.

[0007] For channel estimation purposes, it also supports Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) in DL and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) in UL.

[0008] Synchronization signals (SS) (including the primary SS (PSS) and secondary SS (SSS)) are used in NR to allow the UE to obtain DL synchronization with the cell and the physical cell identifier (ID) associated with the cell. The PSS and SSS are transmitted along with the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) (referred to as the SS / PDCH block or simply SSB). The PBCH is used to transmit critical information within the cell so that the UE can obtain system information from other System Information Blocks (SIBs).

[0009] A gNodeB (gNB) (i.e., an NR base station) may include a single Transmit and Receive Point (TRP) or multiple TRPs. In the case of multiple TRPs, the UE can be scheduled using downlink transmissions from one or more TRPs and uplink data transmissions to one or more TRPs (one TRP at a time or simultaneously).

[0010] Uplink power control in NR consists of two parts: open-loop power control and closed-loop power control. Open-loop power control is used to set the uplink transmit power based on several factors, such as path loss estimation between the UE and the TRP in the serving cell, target receive power, channel / signal bandwidth, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), fractional power control factor, etc.

[0011] Closed-loop power control is based on power adjustments signaled in power control commands received from the gNB. Power control commands are typically determined based on the difference between the actual received power and the desired received power at the gNB. Up to two closed power control loops can be configured in the NR for each UL channel or signal. Cumulative or non-cumulative closed-loop power adjustments are supported in the NR. The closed-loop adjustment at a given time is also referred to as the "power control adjustment state".

[0012] A serving cell may include one or more TRPs. In the case of multiple TRPs, the UE can be scheduled using downlink transmissions from one or more TRPs and uplink transmissions to one or more TRPs. A DL reference signal (RS) is sent from each TRP, which the UE can use to estimate the path loss between the UE and the TRP. Each DL RS has an index. For UL transmissions, power control can be performed individually for each TRP.

[0013] For a UL channel or signal (e.g., PUSCH, Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or SRS) to be transmitted in the UL associated with the path loss RS at index k, its closed-loop index... The transmit power during transmission within a time slot in the bandwidth portion (BWP) of the carrier frequency of the serving cell can be expressed as: in It is the maximum output power of the UE for the carrier frequency of the serving cell during transmission time i for the UL channel or signal. It is the open-loop transmit power, and It is a closed-loop power regulation.

[0014] Given by the following formula in, It is the nominal target received power of the UL channel or signal, and includes a cell-specific portion. and UE-specific parts , It is a power adjustment related to the bandwidth or number of resource blocks (RBs) occupied by the channel or signal at transmission time i. This is a path loss (PL) estimate based on the DL RS with index k. It is the fractional path loss compensation factor, and It is the power offset determined by the modulation and code rate of the UL channel or signal.

[0015] The following is given: in It is the power adjustment value indicated in the transmit power control (TPC) command in the DCI associated with the UL channel or signal at transmission time i, and is configured with closed loop l; It is self-targeted for transmission timing Since the TPC command, the sum of the power adjustment values ​​indicated in the TPC command of the UE for channel or signal reception.

[0016] Note the power control parameters. Typically, each UL channel or signal (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, and SRS) is configured individually, and the configuration can vary for different UL channels and signals. Summary of the Invention

[0017] Systems and methods for power control of uplink-only transmissions and / or receive point transfer points (TRPs) in a wireless network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for uplink power control in a wireless network including network nodes, performed by a user equipment (UE), includes: receiving from the network node a power offset associated with an uplink transmission of an uplink channel; calculating a path loss based on a downlink reference signal; and determining an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel based on the path loss calculated based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network node, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel. The method further includes: transmitting the uplink channel at the determined transmit power. In this way, uplink power control is provided for uplink transmissions in a manner suitable for uplink-only TRPs.

[0018] In one embodiment, the uplink channel is the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or the Sound Reference Signal (SRS).

[0019] In one embodiment, the network node includes a first TRP and a second TRP. In one embodiment, the first TRP is an uplink-only TRP, and the second TRP is an anchor TRP. In one embodiment, the second TRP provides full coverage of the corresponding cell using both downlink and uplink. In one embodiment, the path loss is based on the downlink reference signal it is calculated to be transmitted by the second TRP.

[0020] In one embodiment, the method further includes: the UE transmitting an uplink reference signal. In one embodiment, the uplink reference signal is an SRS. In one embodiment, the power offset represents the difference between the received power (in dBm) of the uplink reference signal at the second TRP and the received power (in dBm) of the uplink reference signal at the first TRP.

[0021] In one embodiment, determining the uplink transmit power for the uplink channel includes: calculating the path loss between the UE and the second TRP based on the calculated path loss and the received power offset.

[0022] In one embodiment, determining the uplink transmit power for the uplink channel based on the calculated first path loss, the received power offset, and other parameters included in the power control configuration includes: calculating the path loss PL1 as: Wherein, PL2 is the path loss calculated based on the downlink reference signal, and The received power offset; and the uplink transmit power for the uplink channel is determined based on the path loss PL1 and the other parameters configured for the uplink channel.

[0023] A corresponding embodiment of a UE is also disclosed. In one embodiment, a UE for uplink power control in a wireless network including network nodes is adapted to: receive from the network node a power offset associated with uplink transmission of an uplink channel; calculate path loss based on a downlink reference signal; and determine an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel based on the path loss calculated based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network node, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel. The UE is further adapted to: transmit the uplink channel at the determined transmit power.

[0024] In one embodiment, a UE for uplink power control in a wireless network including network nodes includes: a communication interface including a transmitter and a receiver; and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the UE to: receive from the network node a power offset associated with uplink transmission of an uplink channel; calculate a path loss based on a downlink reference signal; and determine an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel based on the path loss calculated based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network node, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause the UE to: transmit the uplink channel at the determined transmit power.

[0025] An embodiment of a method performed by a network node is also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a network node associated with a first TRP and a second TRP for a serving cell includes: calculating a receive power offset representing the difference between a first receive power of an uplink reference signal received from the UE at the first TRP and a second receive power of the uplink reference signal received from the UE at the second TRP. The method further includes: transmitting the receive power offset to the UE.

[0026] A corresponding embodiment of a network node is also disclosed. In one embodiment, a network node associated with a first TRP and a second TRP for serving a cell is adapted to: calculate a received power offset representing the difference between a second received power of an uplink reference signal received from the UE at the second TRP and a first received power of the uplink reference signal received from the UE at the first TRP. The UE is further adapted to: transmit the received power difference to the UE.

[0027] In one embodiment, a network node associated with a first TRP and a second TRP for serving a cell includes processing circuitry configured to: calculate a receive power offset representing the difference between a second receive power of an uplink reference signal received from the UE at the second TRP and a first receive power of the uplink reference signal received from the UE at the first TRP. The processing circuitry is further configured to: transmit the receive power difference to the UE. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Several aspects of this disclosure are illustrated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, and together with the specification serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0029] Figure 1 The time-domain structure of a new radio (NR) with a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz is shown.

[0030] Figure 2 An example of a system that provides uplink power control to, for example, an uplink-only transmit and receive point (TRP) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0031] Figure 3 An embodiment according to this disclosure is shown. Figure 2 The operation of the system;

[0032] Figure 4 Examples of communication systems according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown;

[0033] Figure 5 User equipment (UE) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0034] Figure 6 Network nodes according to some embodiments of this disclosure are shown;

[0035] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of a host according to various aspects of the present disclosure described herein, the host may be Figure 4 An example of a host computer;

[0036] Figure 8This is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment in which the functionality implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure can be virtualized; and

[0037] Figure 9 A communication diagram is shown illustrating a host communicating with a UE via a network node through a partial wireless connection, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0038] The embodiments described below illustrate information that enables those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and demonstrate the best mode for practicing the embodiments. By reading the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of this disclosure and recognize the application of these concepts not specifically mentioned herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of this disclosure.

[0039] Some embodiments conceived herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0040] There are specific challenges. In existing New Radio (NR) multiple transmit and receive point (TRP) operations, it is assumed that each TRP can be used for both downlink (DL) transmission and uplink (UL) reception. For NR Release 19, the idea of ​​deploying UL-only TRPs in the cell has been proposed, where UL-only TRPs can be deployed at the cell edge to provide better UL coverage for cell edge UEs. UL-only TRPs only listen and do not transmit any signals. However, one problem with UL-only TRPs is UL power control for transmissions to these TRPs, because without DL RS transmissions from the TRPs, path loss cannot be estimated for the TRPs.

[0041] Specific aspects and embodiments thereof provide solutions to these or other challenges. Systems and methods are disclosed for a user equipment (UE) in a serving cell to determine the path loss of a UL-only TRP for UL power control, the serving cell comprising a UL-only TRP (sometimes referred to herein as a “first TRP”) and an anchor TRP (sometimes referred to herein as a “second TRP”), wherein the second TRP supports both DL and UL. In one embodiment, the method performed by such a system includes any one or more of the following: The UE sends a sounding reference signal (SRS) to both the first TRP and the second TRP. The first TRP and the second TRP each measure the UL SRS received power (e.g., SRS reference signal received power (SRSRP)). The first TRP, the second TRP, or the associated network node (e.g., gNB or gNB central unit (CU)) calculates the SRSRP difference between the first TRP and the second TRP. For example, the second TRP can signal the first TRP to notify its SRSRP, and the first TRP can then calculate the SRSRP difference. As another example, the first TRP and the second TRP can signal their respective SRSRPs to the central node (e.g., gNB or gNB-CU); the central node can then calculate the SRSRP difference. The second TRP or associated network node (e.g., gNB or gNB-CU) signals the UE to notify of the SRSRP difference. The UE calculates the second path loss associated with the second TRP based on the DL RS transmitted from the second TRP. The UE calculates the first path loss associated with the first TRP based on the second path loss and the SRSRP difference. The UE calculates the transmit power for the UL channel or signal to the first TRP based on the first path loss. The UE transmits the UL channel or signal (to the first TRP) at the calculated transmit power.

[0042] Embodiments of this disclosure may include any one or more of the following aspects: Measure SRS received power only at UL TRP and anchor TRP. Calculate the SRS received power difference between the UL TRP and the anchor TRP only. Signal the power difference to the UE The path loss to the UL TRP is calculated based on the power difference and the path loss estimate associated with the anchor TRP.

[0043] Specific embodiments can provide one or more of the following technical advantages. Embodiments of this disclosure enable appropriate UL power control of the UL TRP.

[0044] Figure 2An example of a system 200 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented is shown. In this example, system 200 includes a serving cell 202 operated by a gNB 204 associated with two TRPs (i.e., a first TRP 206 and a second TRP 208). Note that in some embodiments, the TRPs are associated with (e.g., controlled by) the gNB 204, rather than being a part of the gNB 204. The first TRP 206 is preferably a UL-only TRP. The second TRP 208 is also referred to herein as an “anchor TRP.” The second TRP 208 provides full coverage of the serving cell 202 using both DL and UL transmissions. In this example, the first TRP 206 is a UL-only TRP deployed at the cell edge to improve the UL performance of cell-edge UEs. The first TRP 206 and the second TRP 208 are connected to the gNB 204 via corresponding backhaul links. All UEs in cell 202 perform initial access and network connection via the second TRP 208. After initial access and / or network connection, for some cell edge UEs located near the first TRP 206, the gNB can command these UEs to send data to the first TRP 206. In the example shown, UE 210 is illustrated as an example.

[0045] Figure 3 This illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure providing UL power control for a UL channel / signal transmitted by UE 210 to the first TRP 206. Figure 2 The operation of System 200. This process includes the following steps: Step 300: After the gNB 204 request, UE 210 sends SRS in UL. Step 302: Both the first TRP 206 and the second TRP 208 measure the SRS received power (SRSRP) and transmit the measured SRSRP to gNB 204 via their respective backhaul links. Step 304: gNB 204 calculates the SRSRP difference between the first TRP 206 and the second TRP 208. Step 306: gNB 204 sends a signal to UE 210 via the second TRP 208 to notify of the SRSRP difference. Step 308: UE 210 calculates the first path loss between UE 210 and the first TRP 206 based on the SRSRP difference and the estimated second path loss between UE 210 and the second TRP 208. The estimated second path loss between UE 210 and the second TRP 208 can be estimated in a conventional manner (e.g., based on the DL RS transmitted by the second TRP 208). Step 310: UE 210 performs UL power control for the first TRP 206 based on the first path loss. In other words, UE 210 calculates the UL power used for the transmission of the UL channel or signal based on the first path loss. Step 312: UE 210 uses the transmit power obtained through the UL power control performed in step 310 to transmit the UL channel or signal.

[0046] The details of each step are described below.

[0047] Step 300: UE 210 sends SRS

[0048] The SRS transmitted by UE 210 can be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic. The SRS is configured in an SRS resource within an SRS resource set. One or more SRS antenna ports can exist in the SRS resource. The SRS resource or resource set is configured with a set of power control parameters, including a path loss reference signal index. The path loss RS is associated with / transmitted from the anchor TRP (i.e., the second TRP 208).

[0049] Note that SRS is used as an example in this article. Other UL RSs can be used instead of SRS.

[0050] Step 302: SRS Received Power Measurement

[0051] The first TRP 206 and the second TRP 208 are aware of the SRS configuration. Each of TRPs 206 and 208 measures the SRS received power. The SRS received power is SRSRP1 (dBm) at the first TRP 206 and SRSRP2 (dBm) at the second TRP 208. Measurements can be performed at each TRP 206 and 208 (e.g., ...). Figure 3 As shown in steps 302-1 and 302-3 of the example, in this case, TRPs 206 and 208 transmit their SRSRP measurements (i.e., SRSRP1 and SRSRP2) to gNB 204 via their respective backhaul links, as... Figure 3(as shown in steps 302-2 and 302-4 in the example), or at gNB204 (e.g., after processing at TRP 206, the corresponding received signal can be transmitted to gNB 204 via the corresponding backhaul link, where gNB 204 further processes the received signal to obtain SRSRP measurements).

[0052] Step 304: Calculate the SRS received power difference

[0053] In one example embodiment, gNB 204 calculates the SRS received power difference as follows:

[0054] Step 306: Send a signal to the UE to notify of the SRS received power difference.

[0055] The SRS received power difference is quantized and signaled to the UE 210, for example, dynamically in a DCI or Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) or semi-statically in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message. Quantization can be performed using predefined step sizes and ranges. For example, 4 bits and a 2dB step size can be used to cover... The range is {-30, -28, ..., -2, 0} dB. Note that although the SRS received power difference is signaled to UE 210 in this example, some other value based on the SRS received power difference may alternatively be signaled to UE 210 (e.g., UE 210 may derive the value of the SRS received power difference from, for example, via a predefined formula).

[0056] Step 308: Calculate the first path loss between UE and TRP1

[0057] In one example embodiment, UE 210 can calculate the first path loss PL1 between UE 210 and the first TRP 206 as... PL2 is the second path loss between UE 210 and the second TRP 208. UE 210 can estimate PL2 based on the DL RS sent from the second TRP 208.

[0058] Note that in one example alternative embodiment... and It can be calculated as follows:

[0059] Step 310: Calculate the transmit power for the UL channel / signal towards TRP1.

[0060] The UL channel or signal can be PUSCH, PUCCH, or SRS. The transmit power is calculated by the UE 210 based on the first path loss PL1 and a set of other power control parameters configured for the UL channel, for example, according to the existing NR power control procedure described in 3GPP TS38.213 (see, for example, V17.6.0).

[0061] Step 312: Send UL channel or signal to TRP1

[0062] The transmit power obtained in step 310 for the UL channel or signal is used by UE 210 to transmit the UL channel or signal to the first TRP 206.

[0063] Figure 4 An example of a communication system 400 according to some embodiments is shown.

[0064] In this example, the communication system 400 includes a telecommunications network 402, which includes an access network 404 (e.g., a radio access network (RAN)) and a core network 406 (which includes one or more core network nodes 408). The access network 404 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 410A and 410B (one or more of which may generally be referred to as network node 410), or any other similar 3GPP access node or non-3GPP access point (AP). Furthermore, as those skilled in the art will understand, network nodes are not necessarily limited to implementations in which the radio and baseband portions are provided and integrated by a single vendor. Therefore, it will be understood that network nodes include decomposed implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 402 includes one or more Open RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunications network 402 that supports ORAN specifications (e.g., specifications published by the O-RAN Alliance or any similar organization) and can operate individually or together with other nodes to implement one or more functions of any node in the telecommunications network 402 (including one or more network nodes 410 and / or core network nodes 408).

[0065] Examples of ORAN network nodes include Open Radio Units (O-RUs), Open Distributed Units (O-DUs), Open Central Units (O-CUs) (including O-CU control planes (O-CU-CPs) or O-CU user planes (O-CU-UPs)), RAN Intelligent Controllers (near real-time or non-real-time) with managed software or software plugins (e.g., near real-time control applications (e.g., xApps) or non-real-time control applications (e.g., rApps)), or any combination thereof (the adjective "open" specifies support for the ORAN specification). Network nodes can support the specification by, for example, supporting interfaces defined by the ORAN specification, such as A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interfaces, Open Fronthaul User Plane interfaces, or Open Fronthaul Management Plane interfaces. Furthermore, ORAN access nodes can be logical nodes within physical nodes. Additionally, ORAN network nodes can be implemented in a virtualized environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualized environment can include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a service management and orchestration framework via the O-2 interface or similar technologies defined by the O-RAN Consortium. Network node 410 facilitates direct or indirect connections of user equipment (UE), such as connecting UE 412A, 412B, 412C and 412D (one or more of which may generally be referred to as UE 412) to core network 406 via one or more wireless connections.

[0066] Examples of wireless communication via a wireless connection include sending and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information without the use of wires, cables, or other conductors. Furthermore, in various embodiments, communication system 400 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals (whether via a wired or wireless connection). Communication system 400 may include and interface with any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0067] UE 412 can be any of a variety of communication devices, including wireless devices that are arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 410 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 410 is arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE 412 and / or other network nodes or devices in telecommunications network 402 to enable and / or provide network access (e.g., wireless network access) and / or perform other functions (e.g., management) in telecommunications network 402.

[0068] In the depicted example, core network 406 connects network node 410 to one or more hosts, such as host 416. These connections can be direct or indirect, via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Core network 406 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 408) composed of hardware and software components. The characteristics of these components may be substantially similar to those described for UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the description generally applies to the corresponding components of core network node 408. Example core network nodes include one or more of the following functions: Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier Dehiding Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Agent (SEPP), Network Open Function (NEF), and / or User Plane Function (UPF).

[0069] Host 416 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of access network 404 and / or telecommunications network 402, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Host 416 may host various applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include real-time and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services (e.g., retrieving and editing data detected by multiple UEs regarding various environmental conditions), analytics functions, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for alarm and monitoring centers, or any other such functions performed by the server.

[0070] Overall, Figure 4The communication system 400 enables connectivity between the UE, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system 400 can be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards, including but not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable second-, third-, fourth-, or fifth-generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future-generation standard (e.g., sixth-generation (6G)); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard (WiFi); and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as Global Microwave Access Interoperability (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC), ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards, such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0071] In some examples, telecommunications network 402 is a cellular network implementing 3GPP standardized features. Therefore, telecommunications network 402 can support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to it. For example, telecommunications network 402 can provide ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive machine-type communication (mMTC) / massive Internet of Things (IoT) services to other UEs.

[0072] In some examples, UE 412 is configured to send and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to send information to access network 404 according to a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from access network 404. Additionally, the UE may be configured to operate in a single radio access technology (RAT) or multiple RAT or multiple standards mode. For example, the UE may operate using any one or a combination of Wi-Fi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e., configured for multiple radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0073] In this example, hub 414 communicates with access network 404 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 412C and / or 412D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 410B). In some examples, hub 414 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any other communication device described herein relating to the UE. For example, hub 414 may be a broadband router that enables the UE to access core network 406. As another example, hub 414 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. Commands or instructions may be received from the UE, network node 410, or via executable code, scripts, procedures, or other instructions in hub 414. As another example, hub 414 may be a data collector that acts as a temporary storage device for UE data, and in some embodiments, data analytics or other processing may be performed. As yet another example, hub 414 may be a content source. For example, for a UE acting as a virtual reality (VR) headset, display, speaker, or other media delivery device, hub 414 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensed information via a network node, and then hub 414 provides them to the UE directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In yet another example, hub 414 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, particularly when one or more UEs are low-power IoT devices.

[0074] Hub 414 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node 410B. Hub 414 may also allow different communication schemes and / or scheduling between hub 414 and UEs (e.g., UEs 412C and / or 412D) and between hub 414 and core network 406. In other examples, hub 414 is connected to core network 406 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Furthermore, hub 414 may be configured to connect to a machine-to-machine (M2M) service provider via access network 404 and / or to another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, a UE may establish a wireless connection with network node 410 while still being connected via hub 414 through a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 414 may be a dedicated hub, that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communication from network node 410B to UE / from UE to network node 410B. In other embodiments, hub 414 may be a non-dedicated hub, that is, a device capable of operating to route communication between the UE and network node 410B, but also capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for a specific data channel.

[0075] Figure 5A UE 500 according to some embodiments is illustrated. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable of, configured, positioned, and / or operable to wirelessly communicate with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cellular phones, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablet computers, laptops, devices with built-in laptops (LEEs), devices with integrated laptops (LMEs), smart devices, wireless client devices (CPEs), vehicles, in-vehicle or in-vehicle embedded / integrated wireless devices, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by 3GPP, including Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, Machine-Type Communication (MTC) UEs, and / or Enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0076] The UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for secondary link communication, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, the UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated equipment. Instead, the UE may represent a device intended for sale to or operated by a human user but which may not, or initially may not, be associated with a particular human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, the UE may represent a device not intended for sale to or operated by an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0077] UE 500 includes processing circuitry 502, which is operatively coupled via bus 504 to input / output interface 506, power supply 508, memory 510, communication interface 512, and / or any other component or any combination thereof. A particular UE may utilize... Figure 5 All components or subsets of components are shown. The level of integration between components can vary from UE to UE. Furthermore, a particular UE may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0078] Processing circuitry 502 is configured to process instructions and data and can be configured to implement any sequential state machine operable to execute instructions of a machine-readable computer program stored in memory 510. Processing circuitry 502 can be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., using discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic and appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, a general-purpose processor (e.g., a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP)) and appropriate software; or any combination thereof. For example, processing circuitry 502 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0079] In this example, input / output interface 506 can be configured to provide one or more interfaces to input devices, output devices, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, transmitters, smart cards, another output device, or any combination thereof. Input devices can allow users to capture information into UE 500. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital camcorders, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, steering wheels, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. Presence-sensitive displays may include capacitive or resistive touch sensors to sense input from the user. Sensors may be, for example, accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt sensors, force sensors, magnetometers, optical sensors, proximity sensors, biometric sensors, etc., or any combination thereof. Output devices can use the same type of interface port as input devices. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port can be used to provide both input and output devices.

[0080] In some embodiments, power supply 508 is configured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may be used, such as external power sources (e.g., power outlets), photovoltaic devices, or batteries. Power supply 508 may also include power circuitry for delivering power from power supply 508 itself and / or external power sources to various parts of UE 500 via input circuitry or interfaces (e.g., power cords). The delivery of power may, for example, be used to charge power supply 508. The power circuitry may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modifications to the power from power supply 508 to suit the appropriate components of UE 500 to which power is supplied.

[0081] Memory 510 may be, or may be configured to include, memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable ROM (EPROM), electrically EPROM (EEPROM), disk, optical disk, hard disk, removable magnetic tape, flash drive, etc. In one example, memory 510 includes one or more applications 514 (e.g., operating system, web browser application, widget, utility engine, or other application) and corresponding data 516. Memory 510 may store any one or a combination of various operating systems for use by UE 500.

[0082] Memory 510 can be configured to include multiple physical drive units, such as a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-density digital versatile optical disc (HD-DVD) drive, an internal hard drive, a Blu-ray disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) disc drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro DIMM SDRAM, smart card memory (e.g., a tamper-proof module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), including one or more Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and / or an Internet Protocol Multimedia Service Identification Module (ISIM)), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC can be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC, commonly referred to as a "SIM card." Memory 510 can allow UE 500 to access instructions, applications, etc., stored on transient or non-transient storage media to offload or upload data. Articles manufactured using communication systems may be tangibly embodied in or contained in memory 510, which may be or include a device-readable storage medium.

[0083] Processing circuitry 502 can be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using communication interface 512. Communication interface 512 may include one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to antenna 522. Communication interface 512 may include one or more transceivers for communication (e.g., via one or more remote transceivers capable of wireless communication with another device (e.g., another UE or a network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 518 and / or a receiver 520 adapted to provide network communication (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocation, etc.). Furthermore, transmitter 518 and receiver 520 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 522) and may share circuitry, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0084] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication interface 512 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, NFC, location-based communication such as using the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine location, another similar communication function, or any combination thereof. Communication may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Fast User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0085] Regardless of the sensor type, the UE can provide the output of data captured by its sensors via its communication interface 512 through a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by the UE's sensors can be transmitted via another UE through the wireless connection to the network node. The output can be periodic (e.g., every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to balance the reporting load from multiple sensors), responsive to a triggered event (e.g., sending an alarm when humidity is detected), responsive to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., real-time video feed of a patient).

[0086] As another example, the UE includes an actuator, motor, or switch associated with a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. The state of the actuator, motor, or switch can change in response to the received wireless input. For example, the UE may include a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a flying drone based on the received input, or control a robotic arm performing a medical procedure based on the received input.

[0087] When taking the form of an IoT device, the UE can be a device for one or more application areas, including but not limited to urban wearable technology, extended industry applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices include devices that are or are embedded in: connected refrigerators or freezers, televisions, connected lighting devices, electricity meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, air conditioning systems such as heat pumps, autonomous vehicles, surveillance systems, weather monitoring devices, vehicle parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smartwatches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays for augmented reality (AR) or VR, wearable devices for haptic or sensory enhancement, sprinklers, animal or object tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any kind of medical device such as heart rate monitors or remote-controlled surgical robots. The UE in the form of an IoT device includes the circuitry and / or software associated with the intended application of the IoT device and for... Figure 5 Other components described in UE 500 shown.

[0088] As another specific example, in IoT scenarios, a UE can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and sends the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or network node. In this case, the UE can be an M2M device, which can be referred to as an MTC device in the 3GPP context. As a specific example, a UE can implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE can represent a vehicle (e.g., a car, bus, truck), ship, aircraft, or other equipment capable of monitoring and / or reporting its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0089] In practice, any number of UEs can be used together for a single use case. For example, the first UE may be or be integrated into the drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained via a speed sensor) to a second UE, which acts as a remote controller for operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE can adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling the actuators) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first UE and / or the second UE may also include multiple functions described above. For example, the UE may include sensors and actuators and handle data communication between both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0090] Figure 6 A network node 600 according to some embodiments is illustrated. As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is capable of, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or other network nodes or devices in a telecommunications network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and O-RAN nodes or components of O-RAN nodes (e.g., O-RUs, O-DUs, O-CUs).

[0091] Base stations can be classified based on the coverage they provide (or in other words, their transmit power level), and therefore, depending on the coverage provided, they can be called femtocells, picocells, microcells, or macrocells. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) portions of a distributed radio base station (e.g., centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in O-RAN access nodes), and / or remote radio units (RRUs) (sometimes referred to as remote radio heads (RRHs)). Such RRUs may or may not be integrated with an antenna as antenna-integrated radios. A portion of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as a node in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0092] Other examples of network nodes include multi-transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment (such as MSR BS), network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNC) or BS controllers (BSC), base transceiver stations (BTS), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCE), operations and maintenance (O&M) nodes, operations support system (OSS) nodes, self-organizing network (SON) nodes, location nodes (e.g., evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC)), and / or minimized drive test (MDT).

[0093] Network node 600 includes processing circuitry 602, memory 604, communication interface 606, and power supply 608. Network node 600 may include multiple physically separate components (e.g., node B components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components, etc.), each component may have its own corresponding components. In a specific scenario where network node 600 includes multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more separate components may be shared among multiple network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple node Bs. In such scenarios, under certain circumstances, each unique node B and RNC pair may be considered a single, separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 600 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 604 for different RATs), while some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 610 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 600 may also include a variety of example components for integrating different wireless technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, RFID, or Bluetooth wireless technologies) into network node 600. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or chipsets and other components within network node 600.

[0094] Processing circuitry 602 may include one or more of the following, operable to provide network node 600 functionality individually or in combination with other network node 600 components (e.g., memory 604): microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or coding logic.

[0095] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 602 includes a system-on-a-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 602 includes one or more of a radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 612 and a baseband processing circuitry 614. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 612 and the baseband processing circuitry 614 may be on separate chips (or chipsets), boards, or units (e.g., radio units and digital units). In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 612 and the baseband processing circuitry 614 may be on the same chip or chipset, board, or unit.

[0096] Memory 604 may include any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including but not limited to permanent storage devices, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drives, optical discs (CDs), or digital video discs (DVDs)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable storage device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 602. Memory 604 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including computer programs, software, applications (including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc.), and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuitry 602 and utilized by network node 600. Memory 604 may be used to store any calculations performed by processing circuitry 602 and / or any data received via communication interface 606. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 602 and memory 604 are integrated.

[0097] Communication interface 606 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks, and / or UEs. As shown, communication interface 606 includes a port / terminal 616 for sending and receiving data to and from the network, for example, via a wired connection. Communication interface 606 also includes radio front-end circuitry 618 that may be coupled to antenna 610 or, in a particular embodiment, is part of antenna 610. Radio front-end circuitry 618 includes a filter 620 and an amplifier 622. Radio front-end circuitry 618 may be connected to antenna 610 and processing circuitry 602. Radio front-end circuitry 618 may be configured to modulate the signal transmitted between antenna 610 and processing circuitry 602. Radio front-end circuitry 618 may receive digital data that will be transmitted to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry 618 may use a combination of filter 620 and / or amplifier 622 to convert the digital data into radio signals with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters. The radio signals may then be transmitted via antenna 610. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 610 can collect radio signals, which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 618. The digital data can then be passed to processing circuitry 602. In other embodiments, communication interface 606 may include different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0098] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 600 does not include a separate radio front-end circuitry 618; instead, processing circuitry 602 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to antenna 610. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of RF transceiver circuitry 612 is part of communication interface 606. In other embodiments, communication interface 606 includes one or more ports or terminals 616, radio front-end circuitry 618, and RF transceiver circuitry 612 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and communication interface 606 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 614, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0099] Antenna 610 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 610 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 618 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In a particular embodiment, antenna 610 is decoupled from network node 600 and may be connected to network node 600 via an interface or port.

[0100] Antenna 610, communication interface 606, and / or processing circuitry 602 can be configured to perform any receive operation and / or specific acquisition operation described herein as being performed by network node 600. Any information, data, and / or signals can be received from the UE, another network node, and / or any other network device. Similarly, antenna 610, communication interface 606, and / or processing circuitry 602 can be configured to perform any transmit operation described herein as being performed by network node 600. Any information, data, and / or signals can be transmitted to the UE, another network node, and / or any other network device.

[0101] Power supply 608 provides power to the various components of network node 600 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required by each respective component). Power supply 608 may also include or be coupled to power management circuitry to provide power to the components of network node 600 for performing the functions described herein. For example, network node 600 may be connected to an external power source (e.g., the mains or a power outlet) via input circuitry or an interface (e.g., a cable), whereby the external power source provides power to the power circuitry of power supply 608. As yet another example, power supply 608 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated into the power circuitry. The battery can provide backup power in the event of a failure of the external power source.

[0102] Embodiments of network node 600 may include Figure 6Additional components beyond those shown may be used to provide specific aspects of the functionality of the network node, including any of the functions described herein and / or any functions necessary to support the topics described herein. For example, network node 600 may include a user interface device to allow information to be input into and output from network node 600. This can allow users to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other management functions on network node 600.

[0103] Figure 7 Based on the block diagram of host 700 described in this article, host 700 can be... Figure 4 An embodiment of host 416. As used herein, host 700 can be or include various combinations of hardware and / or software, including standalone servers, blade servers, cloud-implemented servers, distributed servers, virtual machines, containers, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 700 can provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0104] Host 700 includes processing circuitry 702, which is operatively coupled via bus 704 to input / output interface 706, network interface 708, power supply 710, and memory 712. Other components may be included in other embodiments. These components may be characterized substantially similarly to those shown in the previous figures (e.g., Figure 5 and 6 The device description features are designed to make the description generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 700.

[0105] Memory 712 may include one or more computer programs, including one or more host applications 714 and data 716. Data 716 may include user data, such as data generated by the UE for the host 700 or data generated by the host 700 for the UE. Embodiments of the host 700 may utilize some or all of the components shown. The host application 714 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Multifunction Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free-to-Use Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding of multiple different classes, types, or implementations of the UE (e.g., mobile phone, desktop computer, wearable display system, head-up display system). The host application 714 may also provide user authentication and authorization checks and may periodically report health status, routing, and content availability to a central node (e.g., a device in the core network or at the edge). Therefore, host 700 can select and / or indicate different hosts for over-the-top (OTT) services for the UE. Host application 714 can support various protocols, such as HTTP Real-Time Streaming (HLS), Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), HTTP Dynamic Adaptive Streaming (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0106] Figure 8 This is a block diagram illustrating a virtualized environment 800 in which functionality implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized. In the current context, virtualization means creating virtual versions of devices or equipment, which may include virtualized hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device or component thereof described herein and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functionality described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) in one or more virtual environments 800 hosted by one or more hardware nodes, such as hardware computing devices operating as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hosts. Furthermore, in embodiments in which virtual nodes do not require radio connectivity (e.g., core network nodes or hosts), the nodes can be fully virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualized environment 800 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a service management and orchestration framework via an O-2 interface.

[0107] Application 802 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, virtual device, network function, virtual node, virtual network function, etc.) runs in virtualization environment 800 to implement certain features, functions, and / or benefits of some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0108] Hardware 804 includes processing circuitry, memory storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as network interfaces, input / output interfaces, etc. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 806 (also referred to as a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM)), provide virtual machines 808A and 808B (one or more of which may generally be referred to as virtual machine 808), and / or perform any functionality, features, and / or benefits described for some embodiments described herein. Virtualization layer 806 may present a virtual operating platform to virtual machine 808 that appears to be networked hardware.

[0109] Virtual machine 808 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual network or interface, and virtual storage devices, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 806. Different embodiments of instances of virtual device 802 can be implemented on one or more virtual machines 808, and can be implemented in different ways. In some contexts, hardware virtualization is referred to as Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many types of network devices onto industry-standard, high-capacity server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage devices that can reside in data centers and client devices.

[0110] In the context of NFV, a virtual machine 808 can be a software implementation of a physical machine, which runs programs as if they were executed on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each virtual machine 808, along with the portion of hardware 804 that executes that virtual machine (hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or hardware shared by that virtual machine with other virtual machines 808), forms a separate virtual network unit. Still within the context of NFV, the virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions running on one or more virtual machines 808 above hardware 804, and corresponds to application 802.

[0111] Hardware 804 can be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 804 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 804 may be part of a larger hardware cluster (e.g., in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 810, which, among other things, oversees the lifecycle management of application 802. In some embodiments, hardware 804 is coupled to one or more radio units, each including one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that can be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more suitable network interfaces and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide a radio-capable virtual node, such as a RAN or base station. In some embodiments, a control system 812 may be used to provide signaling, which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes and the radio units.

[0112] Figure 9 A communication diagram is shown illustrating communication between host 902 and UE 906 via network node 904 through a partial wireless connection, according to some embodiments. Reference will now be made to... Figure 9 To describe the UE discussed in the preceding paragraphs according to various embodiments (e.g. Figure 4 UE 412A and / or Figure 5 UE 500), network nodes (e.g. Figure 4 Network node 410A and / or Figure 6 Network node 600) and host (e.g. Figure 4 Host 416 and / or Figure 7 Example implementation of host 700.

[0113] Similar to host 700, embodiments of host 902 include hardware such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. Host 902 also includes software stored in or accessible by host 902 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application operable to provide services to remote users, such as a UE 906 connected via an OTT connection 950 extending between UE 906 and host 902. In providing services to remote users, the host application can provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 950.

[0114] Network node 904 includes hardware that enables it to communicate with host 902 and UE 906. Connection 960 can be direct or via a core network (such as...). Figure 4The core network (406) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network could be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0115] UE 906 includes hardware and software, the software being stored in or accessible by UE 906 and executable by the UE's processing circuitry. This software includes client applications, such as web browsers or carrier-specific "applications," operable to provide services to human or non-human users via UE 906 with the support of host 902. In host 902, the executing host application can communicate with the executing client application via an OTT connection 950 terminated between UE 906 and host 902. When providing services to a user, the UE's client application can receive request data from the host application of the host and provide user data in response to that request data. OTT connection 950 can transmit both request data and user data. The UE's client application can interact with the user to generate the user data it provides to the host application via OTT connection 950.

[0116] OTT connection 950 can be extended via connection 960 between host 902 and network node 904 and via wireless connection 970 between network node 904 and UE 906 to provide connectivity between host 902 and UE 906. Connection 960 and wireless connection 970, through which OTT connection 950 can be provided, have been abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between host 902 and UE 906 via network node 904, without explicitly referencing any intermediate devices or the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0117] As an example of sending data via OTT connection 950, in step 908, host 902 provides user data, which can be done by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with UE 906. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with UE 906, which shares data with host 902 without explicit human interaction. In step 910, host 902 initiates a transmission carrying user data toward UE 906. Host 902 may initiate the transmission in response to a request sent by UE 906. This request may be caused by human interaction with UE 906 or by the operation of a client application executed on UE 906. According to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission may be carried out via network node 904. Therefore, in step 912, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 904 sends the user data carried in the transmission initiated by host 902 to UE 906. In step 914, UE 906 receives user data carried in the transmission, which can be performed by a client application running on UE 906, which is associated with a host application running by host 902.

[0118] In some examples, UE 906 executes a client application that provides user data to host 902. User data can be provided in response to data received from host 902. Therefore, in step 916, UE 906 can provide user data, which can be done by executing a client application. When providing user data, the client application can further consider user input received from a user via the input / output interface of UE 906. Regardless of the specific manner in which user data is provided, UE 906 initiates a transmission of user data to host 902 via network node 904 in step 918. In step 920, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 904 receives user data from UE 906 and initiates a transmission of the received user data to host 902. In step 922, host 902 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE 906.

[0119] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 906 using OTT connection 950 (where wireless connection 970 forms the final segment). More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve, for example, data rate, latency, and / or power consumption, thereby providing benefits such as reduced user wait time, relaxed file size limits, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery life.

[0120] In the example scenario, host 902 can collect and analyze plant status information. As another example, host 902 can process audio and video data that may have been retrieved from the UE for map creation. As another example, host 902 can collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling traffic congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, host 902 can store surveillance video uploaded by the UE. As another example, host 902 can store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR, which host 902 can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to the UE. As other examples, host 902 can be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-critical power loads to balance generation demand, location services, presentation services (e.g., editing maps based on data collected from remote devices), or any other function that collects, retrieves, stores, analyzes, and / or transmits data.

[0121] In some examples, a measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, latency, and other factors improved thereon in one or more embodiments. Optional network functions may also be available for reconfiguring the OTT connection 950 between host 902 and UE 906 in response to changes in measurement results. The measurement process and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection 950 may be implemented in the software and hardware of host 902 and / or UE 906. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with other devices through which the OTT connection 950 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement process by providing values ​​of the monitored quantities as exemplified above or by providing values ​​of other physical quantities from which the software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. Reconfiguration of the OTT connection 950 may include message formats, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; reconfiguration does not require a direct change in the operation of network node 904. Such processes and functions may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling, which facilitates host 902's measurement of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. Measurements can be made because the software causes messages to be sent using the OTT connection 950 during its monitoring of propagation time, errors, etc., especially empty messages or "dummy" messages.

[0122] While the computing devices described herein (e.g., UE, network node, host) may include combinations of the hardware components shown, other embodiments may include computing devices with different combinations of components. It will be understood that these computing devices may include any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determination, calculation, acquisition, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information, for example, by: converting acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired or converted information with information stored in a network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information, and making a determination as a result of said processing. Furthermore, although components are depicted as single boxes located within larger boxes or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a computing device may include multiple different physical components constituting a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between individual components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of a component may be partitioned between processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any such component may be implemented in software or firmware, while computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0123] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in memory, which may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by processing circuitry without requiring, for example, hard-wired execution of instructions stored on separate or separate device-readable storage media. In any of these particular embodiments, processing circuitry may be configured to perform the described functions regardless of whether instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium are executed. The benefits provided by such functions are not limited to the processing circuitry or other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or generally by the end user and wireless network.

[0124] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of this disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

[0125] Some example embodiments of this disclosure are as follows: Group A Examples

[0126] Example 1: A method for uplink power control performed by a user equipment (UE) (210), the method comprising any one or more of the following: transmitting (300) an uplink reference signal on a serving cell (202) operated by a network node (204) associated with a first transmission and reception point (TRP) (206) and a second TRP (208); receiving (306) from the network node (204) a first RSRP representing the uplink reference signal at the first TRP (206) and a second RSRP representing the uplink reference signal at the second TRP (208). The difference in reference signal received power RSRP difference; based on the second path loss between UE (210) and the second TRP (208) and the RSRP difference, calculate (308) the first path loss between UE (210) and the first TRP (206); based on the first path loss, perform (310) uplink power control for the first TRP (206) for uplink channel or signal; and transmit (312) the uplink channel or signal with the transmit power obtained by performing (310) uplink power control for the first TRP (206) based on the first path loss.

[0127] Example 2: According to the method described in Example 1, the uplink reference signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0128] Example 3: The method described in Example 1 or 2, wherein the first TRP (206) is an uplink-only TRP.

[0129] Example 4: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the second TRP (208) is an anchor TRP (i.e., the TRP used by all UEs in the corresponding cell for initial access and network connection).

[0130] Example 5: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 4, wherein the second TRP (208) provides full coverage of the corresponding cell using both downlink and uplink.

[0131] Example 6: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the RSRP difference is defined as: in, The difference is the RSRP. SRSRP1 is the first RSRP of the uplink reference signal at the first TRP (206), and SRSRP2 is the second RSRP of the uplink reference signal at the second TRP (208).

[0132] Example 7: According to the method described in Example 6, the calculation of (308) the first path loss includes: calculating the first path loss as: PL1 is the first path loss, and PL2 is the second path loss.

[0133] Example 8: The method according to any of the foregoing embodiments further includes: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to the host via transmission to the network node (204). Group B Implementation Examples

[0134] Example 9: A method performed by a network node (204) associated with a first transmission and reception point (TRP) (206) and a second TRP (208) for a serving cell (202), the method comprising any one or more of the following: calculating (304) a reference signal received power RSRP difference representing the difference between a first RSRP of an uplink reference signal received from a user equipment (UE) (210) at the first TRP (206) and a second RSRP of an uplink reference signal received from the UE (210) at the second TRP (208); and sending (306) the RSRP difference to the UE (210).

[0135] Example 10: According to the method described in Example 9, the uplink reference signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS).

[0136] Example 11: The method according to Example 9 or 10, wherein the first TRP (206) is an uplink-only TRP.

[0137] Example 12: The method according to any one of Examples 9 to 11, wherein the second TRP (208) is an anchor TRP (i.e., the TRP used by all UEs in the corresponding cell for initial access and network connection).

[0138] Example 13: The method according to any one of Examples 9 to 12, wherein the second TRP (208) provides full coverage of the corresponding cell using both downlink and uplink.

[0139] Example 14: The method according to any one of Examples 9 to 13, wherein the RSRP difference is defined as: in, The difference is the RSRP. SRSRP1 is the first RSRP of the uplink reference signal at the first TRP (206), and SRSRP2 is the second RSRP of the uplink reference signal at the second TRP (208).

[0140] Example 15: The method according to any one of Examples 9 to 14 further includes: receiving (302-2) a first RSRP from a first TRP (206); and receiving (302-4) a second RSRP from a second TRP (208).

[0141] Example 16: The method according to any of the foregoing embodiments further includes: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or user equipment. Group C Implementation Examples

[0142] Example 17: A user equipment includes: processing circuitry configured to perform any step of any of the Group A examples; and power supply circuitry configured to provide power to the processing circuitry.

[0143] Example 18: A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any step of any of the Group B examples; and power supply circuitry configured to provide power to the processing circuitry.

[0144] Example 19: A user equipment (UE) includes: an antenna configured to transmit and receive radio signals; a radio front-end circuit connected to the antenna and processing circuitry and configured to modulate signals transmitted between the antenna and processing circuitry; processing circuitry configured to perform any step of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow information to be input into the UE for processing by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information processed by the processing circuitry from the UE; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to provide power to the UE.

[0145] Example 20: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide over-the-top (OTT) services, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate the reception of user data; and a network interface configured to receive user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node being configured to perform any operation of any of the Group B embodiments to receive user data from the host's user equipment (UE).

[0146] Example 21: The host according to the previous example, wherein: the host's processing circuitry is configured to execute a host application for receiving user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0147] Example 22: The host according to any one of the first two examples, wherein initiating the reception of user data includes: requesting user data.

[0148] Example 23: A method implemented by a host, the host being configured to operate in a communication system that also includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating the reception of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission already received from the UE by the network node, wherein the network node performs any step of any of the Group B examples to receive the user data from the UE of the host.

[0149] Example 24: The method described in the previous example further includes: sending the received user data to the host at the network node.

[0150] Example 25: A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide over-the-top (OTT) services, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate the transmission of user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE includes a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any step of any of the Group A examples to send user data to the host.

[0151] Example 26: The host according to the previous example, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to send user data from the UE to the host.

[0152] Example 27: The host according to the first two examples, wherein: the host's processing circuitry is configured to execute a host application to provide user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executed on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0153] Example 28: A method implemented by a host, the host being configured to operate in a communication system including a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data sent by the UE to the host via the network node, wherein the UE performs any step of any of the Group A examples to send the user data to the host.

[0154] Example 29: The method according to the previous example further includes: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executed on the UE to receive user data from the UE.

[0155] Example 30: The method according to the preceding two examples further includes: at the host, sending input data to a client application executed on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein user data is provided by the client application in response to input data from the host application.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (210) for uplink power control in a wireless network comprising network nodes, the method comprising: receiving (306), from the network nodes (204), a power offset associated with uplink transmission of an uplink channel; computing a path loss based on a downlink reference signal; determining (308-310) an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel as a function of the path loss computed based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network nodes, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel; and transmitting (312) the uplink channel with the determined transmit power. The uplink channel is a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, or a physical uplink control channel, PUCCH, or a sounding reference signal, SRS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The network nodes comprise a first transmission and / or reception point, TRP, and a second TRP.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The first TRP is an uplink only TRP and the second TRP is an anchor TRP.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The second TRP (208) provides full coverage of a respective cell with both downlink and uplink.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The downlink reference signal based on which the path loss is computed is a downlink reference signal transmitted by the second TRP.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein, An uplink reference signal is transmitted by the UE.

7. The method of any of claims 3-6, further comprising: The uplink reference signal is a sounding reference signal, SRS.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The power offset represents a difference between a received power of the uplink reference signal at the second TRP (208) in decibel-milliwatts, dBm, and a received power of the uplink reference signal at the first TRP (206) in dBm.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein, Determining (308-310) the uplink transmit power for the uplink channel comprises computing (308) a path loss between the UE and the second TRP based on the computed path loss and the received power offset.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein, Determining the uplink transmit power for the uplink channel based on the computed first path loss, the received power offset, and other parameters included in the power control configuration comprises computing a path loss, PL1, as:

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, Determining the uplink transmit power for the uplink channel based on the path loss, PL1, and the other parameters configured for the uplink channel. wherein PL2 is a path loss calculated based on the downlink reference signal, and is a received power offset; and 12. A user equipment, UE, (210) for uplink power control in a wireless network comprising network nodes, the UE (210) being adapted to: receive (306), from the network nodes (204), a power offset associated with uplink transmission of an uplink channel; compute a path loss based on a downlink reference signal; determine (308-310) an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel as a function of the path loss computed based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network nodes, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel; and transmit (312) the uplink channel with the determined transmit power. ​ transmit (312) the uplink channel with the determined transmit power.

13. The UE (210) of claim 12, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2-11.

14. A user equipment, UE (210; 500), for uplink power control in a wireless network comprising network nodes, the UE (210; 500) comprising: a communications interface (512) comprising a transmitter (518) and a receiver (520); and a processing circuit (502) associated with the communications interface (512), the processing circuit (502) being configured to cause the UE (210; 500) to: receive (306), from the network node (204), a power offset associated with uplink transmission of an uplink channel; compute a path loss based on a downlink reference signal; determine (308-310) an uplink transmit power for the uplink channel as a function of the path loss computed based on the downlink reference signal, the power offset received from the network node, and other parameters configured for the uplink channel; and transmit (312) the uplink channel with the determined transmit power. The processing circuit (502) is further configured to cause the UE (210; 500) to perform the method of any of claims 2-11.

15. The UE (210; 500) according to claim 14, wherein 16. A method performed by a network node (204) associated with a first transmission and reception point, TRP (206), and a second TRP (208) for a serving cell (202), the method comprising: computing (304) a receive power offset representing a difference between a first received power of an uplink reference signal received at the first TRP (206) from a user equipment, UE (210), and a second received power of the uplink reference signal received at the second TRP (208) from the UE (210); and transmitting (306) the receive power offset to the UE (210). The first received power is a first reference signal received power, RSRP, the second received power is a second RSRP, and the receive power difference is an RSRP difference.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The uplink reference signal is a sounding reference signal, SRS.

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein, The first TRP (206) is an uplink only TRP.

19. The method of any one of claims 16-18, wherein, The second TRP (208) is an anchor point TRP used by all UEs in the respective cell for initial access and network connection.

20. The method of any one of claims 16-19, wherein, The second TRP (208) provides full coverage of the respective cell with both downlink and uplink.

21. The method of any one of claims 16-20, wherein, The first received power is a first reference signal received power, RSRP, the second received power is a second RSRP, and the receive power offset is an RSRP difference, defined as:

22. The method of any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein, 23. The method of any of claims 16-22, further comprising: wherein is the receive power offset expressed in RSRP difference, RSRP1 is the first RSRP of the uplink reference signal at the first TRP (206), and RSRP2 is the second RSRP of the uplink reference signal at the second TRP (208). receiving (302-2) the first received power from the first TRP (206); and ​ receiving (302-4) the second received power from the second TRP (208).

24. A network node (204) associated with a first transmission and reception point, TRP, (206) and a second TRP (208) for a serving cell (202), the network node (204) adapted to: compute (304) a received power offset representing a difference between a second received power of an uplink reference signal received at the second TRP (208) from a user equipment, UE, (210) and a first received power of the uplink reference signal received at the first TRP (206) from the UE; and send (306) the received power offset to the UE (210).

25. The network node (204) of claim 24, further adapted to perform the method of any one of claims 17-23.

26. A network node (204; 600) associated with a first transmission and reception point, TRP, (206) and a second TRP (208) for a serving cell (202), the network node (204; 600) comprising processing circuitry (602) configured to cause the network node (204; 600) to: compute (304) a received power offset representing a difference between a second received power of an uplink reference signal received at the second TRP (208) from a user equipment, UE, (210) and a first received power of the uplink reference signal received at the first TRP (206) from the UE; and send (306) the received power offset to the UE (210).

27. The network node (204; 600) according to claim 26, wherein the processing circuitry (602) is further configured to cause the network node (204; 600) to perform the method of any one of claims 17-23.

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