Group management of wireless communication devices for resource allocation

Abstract

This disclosure provides techniques for wireless communications. A method includes grouping a plurality of wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups, transmitting one or more configurations of one or more pools of access occasions allocated to the plurality of groups for communications, and, for a first group of the plurality of groups, transmitting an indication of a subset of wireless communication devices in the first group that are to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access occasions allocated to the first group for communications.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communication, and more specifically, to techniques for arranging devices into groups and allocating resources to the groups of devices. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunications services, such as telephone, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, or other similar services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that enable communication with several users by sharing available wireless communication system resources.

[0003] Despite significant technological advancements in wireless communication systems over the years, challenges remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and receivers. Therefore, there is a continuous expectation for improving the technical performance of wireless communication systems, including, for example: improving communication speed and data carrying capacity; improving the efficiency of shared communication media; reducing the power used by transmitters and receivers during communication; improving the reliability of wireless communication; avoiding redundant transmission and / or reception and related processing; improving the coverage area of ​​wireless communication; increasing the number and types of devices that can access the wireless communication system; increasing the ability of different types of devices to communicate with each other; and increasing the number and types of available wireless communication media. Therefore, there is a need for further improvements to wireless communication systems to overcome the aforementioned technical challenges and other obstacles. Summary of the Invention

[0004] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a device. The method includes: grouping a plurality of wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups; transmitting one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication; and, for a first group of the plurality of groups, transmitting an indication to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities allocated to the first group for communication.

[0005] Another aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a device. The method includes: receiving one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication, wherein the multiple groups include a first group that includes the device; receiving an instruction for a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of the multiple access opportunities, the multiple access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication, the subgroup including the device; and transmitting one or more messages in at least one instance of the one or more instances of the multiple access opportunities.

[0006] Other aspects provide: one or more means capable of operating to, configured to, or otherwise adapted to perform any portion of any method described herein (e.g., such that performance can be implemented by only one means or in a distributed manner across multiple means); one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the one or more means, cause the one or more means to perform any portion of any method described herein (e.g., such that instructions can be included in only one computer-readable medium or in a distributed manner across multiple computer-readable media, such that instructions can be executed by only one processor or by multiple processors in a distributed manner, such that in the one or more means...). Each device may include one or more processors, and / or enable execution to be performed by only one device or in a distributed manner across multiple devices; one or more computer program products embodied on one or more computer-readable storage media including code for performing any part of any method described herein (e.g., enabling the code to be stored in only one computer-readable medium or in a distributed manner across computer-readable media); and / or one or more devices including one or more components for performing any part of any method described herein (e.g., enabling execution to be performed by only one device or by multiple devices in a distributed manner). By way of example, a device may include a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system cooperating via one or more networks. A device may include: one or more memories; and one or more processors configured to enable the device to perform any part of any method described herein. In some examples, one or more processors may be pre-configured to perform the various functions or operations described herein without being configured by software.

[0007] For illustrative purposes, the following description and figures illustrate certain features. Attached Figure Description

[0008] The accompanying drawings depict certain features of the various aspects described herein and should not be considered as limiting the scope of this disclosure.

[0009] Figure 1 An example wireless communication network is depicted.

[0010] Figure 2 An example decomposed base station architecture is described.

[0011] Figure 3 Various aspects of the example base station and example user equipment (UE) are described.

[0012] Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D Various example aspects of data structures used in wireless communication networks are described.

[0013] Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C Various example aspects of environmental Internet of Things (A-IoT) communication systems are described.

[0014] Figure 6A , Figure 6B and Figure 6C Various example aspects of monostatic and bistatic A-IoT communication systems are described.

[0015] Figure 7A , Figure 7B , Figure 7C , Figure 7D and Figure 7E Various example aspects of allocating resources to groups of devices are described.

[0016] Figure 8 The process flow for communication between the reader and one or more devices is described.

[0017] Figure 9 Example aspects of resource allocation with different data volumes are described.

[0018] Figure 10 An example aspect of grouping devices is described.

[0019] Figure 11 An example aspect of grouping devices from a large access opportunity (AO) pool is described.

[0020] Figure 12 Example aspects of dynamic group management configuration are described.

[0021] Figure 13 Example aspects of the subgroup selection configuration for resource allocation are described.

[0022] Figure 14 An example aspect of resource allocation for a group of devices is described.

[0023] Figure 15 An example aspect of monitoring messages for a group of devices is described.

[0024] Figure 16A , Figure 16B and Figure 16C Various examples of resource allocation are described.

[0025] Figure 17A method for wireless communication is described.

[0026] Figure 18 Another method for wireless communication is described.

[0027] Figure 19 Another method for wireless communication is described.

[0028] Figure 20 Another method for wireless communication is described.

[0029] Figure 21 Another method for wireless communication is described.

[0030] Figure 22 Another method for wireless communication is described.

[0031] Figure 23 Various aspects of the example communication device are described.

[0032] Figure 24 Various aspects of the example communication device are described. Detailed Implementation

[0033] Various aspects of this disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for arranging devices into groups and allocating resources (e.g., time, frequency, space, decoding schemes, etc., such as corresponding access timing) to the groups of devices. Specifically, certain aspects provide techniques for grouping devices (e.g., network entities; user equipment (UEs); reader devices (such as network entities or UEs) configured to read tags from other devices; apparatus; etc.) to group devices together for communication (e.g., communicating with the grouping devices, such as directly or indirectly via one or more other devices; communicating with another device; etc.), allocating resources to the groups of devices, dynamically adjusting the groups, selecting subgroups for resource allocation, and / or allocating a resource amount to each device in each group of devices. In some aspects, the devices grouped by the grouping devices for resource allocation can be Ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) devices; however, it should be understood that although some techniques may be described with reference to A-IoT devices as examples, the techniques described herein are not limited to A-IoT devices.

[0034] A-IoT devices typically have a low-complexity design configured to transmit (e.g., send and / or receive) wireless signals using low power. For example, A-IoT devices may often have limited energy storage capabilities, such as limited batteries or capacitors or other short-term energy storage devices. In some cases, A-IoT devices rely on energy harvesting from one or more external sources. These external sources may include: solar energy, thermal energy, kinetic energy, radio frequency (RF) energy, electromagnetic radiation (EMR), other types of ambient energy, etc. For example, A-IoT devices may include one or more components that allow the A-IoT device to harvest energy, such as solar cells and RF power converters. Example A-IoT devices include tags, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, passive user equipment (UE), backscatter UEs, etc.

[0035] A-IoT devices may not include active RF components, but instead can communicate using passive radio equipment (e.g., backscatter radio components). For example, A-IoT devices are typically capable of asynchronous communication and may not have power amplifiers or low-noise amplifiers. A-IoT UEs can typically utilize lightweight protocol stacks.

[0036] In some respects, A-IoT devices using passive radio equipment are configured to modulate and reflect incident RF signals (e.g., carrier wave (CW)). For example, another device (e.g., UE, network entity, relay device, etc.) may transmit CW in the direction of the A-IoT device. The A-IoT device uses passive radio equipment to modulate and reflect the CW to transmit data. The modulated and reflected CW can be referred to as a backscattered signal, where information is encoded in the backscattered signal based on modulation.

[0037] In some cases, grouping multiple (e.g., A-IoT) devices together can be beneficial and / or efficient, such as when these devices are successfully accessed by other devices (e.g., reader devices, network entities, UEs, etc.). For example, grouping devices together can enable more efficient communication between multiple devices and other devices by configuring resources for the group rather than for each individual device.

[0038] When grouping devices and allocating resources to the group, one or more technical problems arise, such as how the grouped devices should be grouped. For example, devices in the same group may have different amounts of data to communicate (e.g., to be sent, such as to the grouping device, indirectly or directly, or to another device). Therefore, based on the corresponding amount of data that the devices need to convey, the resources allocated to the group to facilitate communication among the devices in the group may be insufficient and / or excessive for one or more devices in the group.

[0039] Therefore, the techniques and signaling described herein can provide a technical solution for grouping devices into groups and allocating resources to these groups based on one or more factors. For example, this technical solution may include grouping devices configured to group devices into appropriate groups based on: which devices have similar (e.g., within threshold ranges such as upper and lower limits) amounts of data to be communicated, such as similar amounts of data to be communicated in memory / buffers (e.g., data to be sent by the devices), and / or based on additional factors (e.g., path loss between the device and another device to which the data is to be transmitted, distance between the device and another device to which the data is to be transmitted, the device's energy state (e.g., remaining battery power), the device's error rate (e.g., bit error rate (BER), block error rate (BLER) for communication with another device to which the data is to be transmitted, the device's signal response rate). The number of consecutive failed decodings of signals (such as those from another device to which the data is to be transmitted), the device's acknowledgment (ACK) feedback (e.g., ACK or negative ACK (NACK)) of previous communications (such as those from another device to which the data is to be transmitted), and the channel conditions between the device and the other device to which the data is to be transmitted (e.g., Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Received Power (RSRP), Reference Received Quality (RSRQ), etc.). For example, multiple threshold ranges for the amount of data to be communicated can be defined to group devices such that each threshold range is associated with a group. A device can be assigned to a group where the amount of data to be communicated at that device is within the threshold range associated with that group.

[0040] In some respects, assigning devices with similar amounts of data to be communicated to the same group allows for a more even distribution of resources among the devices, as they can utilize resources more evenly for communication. Therefore, in some cases, resources can be generally defined for the group and implicitly allocated (e.g., evenly) among the devices in the group, such as by not having to assign resources individually to each device in the group, which reduces overhead. Other factors listed herein for grouping devices can similarly affect the amount of resources available for data communication by the devices, making these factors comparable in consideration.

[0041] Additionally or alternatively, the technical solution may include grouping devices to dynamically manage device groups by indicating which devices are no longer included in the group, which devices will remain in the group, which devices will be added to the group, or a combination thereof. For example, the amount of data a device needs to convey or other factors of the device may change, making the device more suitable for another group. Dynamic management of groups can provide the beneficial effect of being able to modify groupings to cope with changing conditions.

[0042] Additionally or alternatively, the technical solution may include grouping devices into subgroups within a group for resource allocation. For example, a reader device may indicate: whether a message addresses the entire group or a subgroup of the group, the size of the subgroup, the group's common identifier, one or more identifiers of individual devices to be included or excluded from the subgroup, or any combination thereof. For example, as discussed, changing the group of devices may be beneficial. However, in some cases, the change may only need to be temporary. Therefore, instead of using signaling to change the group of devices back and forth, subgroups can be defined for the group, which allows for dynamic changes to the group with reduced signaling overhead.

[0043] Additionally or alternatively, the technical solution may include a grouping device allocating the same amount of resources to each device in the same group. For example, a reader device may allocate resources to each device in the group based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the devices in the group, and / or may instruct the same resource allocation for the group over multiple time periods until all devices in the group have no data to communicate. Such allocation can take advantage of reduced signaling overhead, such as the fact that it is not necessary to individually instruct the corresponding amount of resources allocated to each device.

[0044] The techniques described herein for grouping devices and allocating resources to these groups can provide any of a variety of beneficial effects and / or advantages. For example, grouping devices based on one or more factors described herein (e.g., the amount of data to be communicated, additional instructions, etc.) can enable more efficient communication between devices by specifically allocating resources to the groups (e.g., to mitigate potential under- or over-supplied resource allocation). Additionally or alternatively, dynamically managing groups and / or selecting subgroups of devices from groups can further enhance efficient communication between devices by allocating resources as needed to specific devices within the group so that those specific devices can complete their corresponding communication with the devices after the other devices in the group have completed their communication. Additionally or alternatively, allocating the same amount of resources to each device in the same group can reduce the signaling complexity of communication between devices.

[0045] An introduction to wireless communication networks The techniques and methods described herein can be used in a variety of wireless communication networks. Although aspects herein may be described using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, and / or other generations of wireless technologies, aspects of this disclosure are equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0046] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication network 100 in which the aspects described herein can be implemented is depicted.

[0047] Generally, wireless communication network 100 includes various network entities (alternatively, network elements or network nodes). Network entities are typically communication devices and / or communication functions performed by communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE), base station (BS), components of the BS, servers, etc.). Since such communication devices are part of wireless communication network 100 and facilitate wireless communication, they may be referred to as wireless communication devices. For example, various functions of the network and various devices associated with and interacting with the network may be considered network entities. Furthermore, wireless communication network 100 includes terrestrial aspects (also referred to herein as non-terrestrial network entities) and non-terrestrial aspects. Terrestrial aspects include terrestrial network entities such as terrestrial network entities (e.g., BS 102), and non-terrestrial aspects include satellite 140 and / or airborne or spaceborne platforms, which may include onboard network entities (e.g., one or more BSs) capable of communicating with other network elements (e.g., terrestrial BSs) and UEs.

[0048] In the depicted example, wireless communication network 100 includes BS 102, UE 104 and one or more core networks (such as Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and 5G Core (5GC) network 190) that interoperate to provide communication services over various communication links, including wired and wireless links.

[0049] Figure 1 Various example UE 104s are described, which may more generally include: cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, GPS devices, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablet computers, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electricity meters, air pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, always-on (AON) devices, edge processing devices, data centers, or other similar devices. UE 104 may also be more generally referred to as mobile devices, wireless devices, stations, mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, remote devices, access terminals, mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, mobile phones, and others.

[0050] BS 102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120 (e.g., transmitting or receiving signals to or from the UE). Communication link 120 between BS 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to BS 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmission from BS 102 to UE 104. In various aspects, communication link 120 may utilize multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0051] BS 102 may typically include: Node B, Enhanced Node B (eNB), Next Generation Enhanced Node B (ng-eNB), Next Generation Node B (gNB or gNodeB), access point, transceiver base station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver functionality, transmit / receive point, and / or others. Each of BS 102 provides communication coverage for a corresponding coverage area 110, which may sometimes be referred to as a cell, and in some cases may overlap (e.g., a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of a macro cell). For example, BS may provide communication coverage for macro cells (covering a relatively large geographic area), pico cells (covering a relatively small geographic area, such as a stadium), femtocells (covering a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)), and / or other types of cells.

[0052] Generally, a cell can refer to a portion, partition, or segment of wireless communication coverage served by network entities within a wireless communication network. A cell can have geographical characteristics (such as a geographical coverage area) and radio frequency characteristics (such as time and / or frequency resources dedicated to the cell). For example, multiple cells employing different frequency resources (e.g., bandwidth portions) and / or different time resources can cover a specific geographical coverage area. As another example, a single cell can cover a specific geographical coverage area. In some contexts (e.g., carrier aggregation scenarios and / or multi-connectivity scenarios), the terms "cell" or "serving cell" can refer to or correspond to a specific carrier frequency (e.g., component carrier) used for wireless communication, and "cell group" can refer to or correspond to multiple carriers used for wireless communication. As an example, in a carrier aggregation scenario, a UE can communicate on multiple component carriers corresponding to multiple (serving) cells in the same cell group, and in a multi-connectivity (e.g., dual-connectivity) scenario, a UE can communicate on multiple component carriers corresponding to multiple cell groups.

[0053] Although BS 102 is described as a single communication device in various aspects, it can be implemented in a variety of configurations. For example, to give a few examples, one or more components of the base station can be decomposed, including a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), one or more radio units (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. In another example, various aspects of the base station can be virtualized. More generally, a base station (e.g., BS 102) can include components located at a single physical location or components located at various physical locations. In examples where the base station includes components located at various physical locations, the various components can each perform functions, such that the various components collectively achieve functionality similar to a base station located at a single physical location. In some aspects, a base station including components located at various physical locations can be referred to as a decomposed radio access network architecture (such as an open RAN (O-RAN) or virtualized RAN (VRAN) architecture). Figure 2 An example decomposed base station architecture is depicted and described.

[0054] Different BSs 102 within the wireless communication network 100 can also be configured to support different radio access technologies (such as 3G, 4G, and / or 5G). For example, a BS 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can interface with EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1 interface). A BS 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interface with 5GC 190 via a second backhaul link 184. BSs 102 can communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC 160 or 5GC 190) on a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., X2 interface), which can be wired or wireless.

[0055] Wireless communication network 100 can subdivide the electromagnetic spectrum into various categories, bands, channels, or other characteristics. In some aspects, subdivision is provided based on wavelength and frequency, where frequency may also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, channel, tone, or subband. For example, 3GPP currently defines frequency range 1 (FR1) as including 410MHz to 7125MHz, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as “sub-6GHz”. Similarly, 3GPP currently defines frequency range 2 (FR2) as including 24,250MHz to 71,000MHz, which is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to as “millimeter wave” (“mmW” or “mmWave”). In some cases, FR2 can be further defined according to subranges (such as a first subrange FR2-1 including 24,250MHz to 52,600MHz and a second subrange FR2-2 including 52,600MHz to 71,000MHz). Base stations configured to communicate using mmWave / near mmWave radio bands (e.g., mmWave base stations such as BS 180) can utilize beamforming (e.g., 182) with UEs (e.g., 104) to improve path loss and range.

[0056] The communication link 120 between BS 102 and, for example, UE 104 can be via one or more carriers, which may have different bandwidths (e.g., 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz, 100MHz, 400MHz and / or other MHz) and may be aggregated in various ways. The carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric relative to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL compared to UL).

[0057] Compared to lower-frequency communication, communication using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter range. Therefore, some base stations (e.g., Figure 1The beamforming 182 of the BS 180 (180) with the UE 104 can be used to improve path loss and range. For example, the BS 180 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming. In some cases, the BS 180 may transmit beamformed signals to the UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182''. The UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from the BS 180 in one or more receive directions 182''. The UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to the BS 180 in one or more transmit directions 182''. The BS 180 may also receive beamformed signals from the UE 104 in one or more receive directions 182''. The BS 180 and UE 104 may then perform beamforming training to determine the optimal receive and transmit directions for each of the BS 180 and UE 104. It is worth noting that the transmit and receive directions of the BS 180 may be the same or different. Similarly, the sending and receiving directions of UE 104 can be the same or different.

[0058] The wireless communication network 100 also includes a Wi-Fi AP 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in, for example, unlicensed spectrum in 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz.

[0059] Some UEs 104 may use device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158 to communicate with each other. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and / or physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

[0060] EPC 160 may include various functional components, including: Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, Serving Gateway 166, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and / or Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172, as in the illustrated example. MME 162 may communicate with Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. MME 162 is the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and EPC 160. Generally, MME 162 provides bearer and connectivity management.

[0061] Generally, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through Serving Gateway 166, which is itself connected to PDN Gateway 172. PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. PDN Gateway 172 and BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176, which may include, for example, the Internet, intranets, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), packet-switched (PS) streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0062] The BM-SC 170 provides functionality for MBMS user service dispatch and delivery. The BM-SC 170 can serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and / or schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 can distribute MBMS services to BS 102 within a Broadcast-Specific Service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area, and / or be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0063] 5GC 190 may include various functional components, including: Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and User Plane Function (UPF) 195. AMF 192 may communicate with Unified Data Management (UDM) 196.

[0064] AMF 192 is the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and 5GC 190. AMF 192 provides services such as Quality of Service (QoS) flow and session management.

[0065] Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted via UPF 195, which connects to IP service 197 and provides UE IP address allocation and other functions for 5GC 190. IP service 197 may include, for example, the Internet, intranet, IMS, PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0066] In various aspects, to give a few examples, network entities or network nodes can be implemented as aggregated base stations, decomposed base stations, components of base stations, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, relay nodes, and sidelink nodes.

[0067] Figure 2An example decomposed base station 200 architecture is depicted. The decomposed base station 200 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 210, which may communicate directly with the core network 220 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 220 through one or more decomposed base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 225 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 215 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 205, or both. CUs 210 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 230 via corresponding midhaul links (such as F1 interfaces). DUs 230 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 240 via corresponding fronthaul links. RUs 240 may communicate with a corresponding UE 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some specific implementations, UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 240.

[0068] Each unit in a cell (e.g., CU 210, DU 230, RU 240, and near-RT RIC 225, non-RT RIC 215, and SMO frame 205) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the cells, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the cell's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more other cells via the transmission medium. For example, these cells may include a wired interface configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more other cells via a wired transmission medium. Additionally or alternatively, a cell may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive signals on a wireless transmission medium or transmit signals to one or more other cells, or both.

[0069] In some aspects, CU 210 can host one or more higher-level control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function can be implemented using an interface configured to signal to other control functions hosted by CU 210. CU 210 can be configured to handle user plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-Control Plane (CU-CP)), or combinations thereof. In some implementations, CU 210 can be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, CU-UP units can communicate bidirectionally with CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. CU 210 can be implemented to communicate with DU 230 for network control and signaling purposes, as needed.

[0070] DU 230 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 240s. In some aspects, DU 230 may at least partially host one or more of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) according to functional splits (such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 230 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 230 or with control functions hosted by CU 210.

[0071] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RU 240s. In some deployments, an RU240 controlled by a DU 230 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, or Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or both, at least in part based on functional decomposition (such as lower-layer functional decomposition). In such architectures, the RU 240 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UE 104s. In some specific implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 240 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 230. In some scenarios, this configuration enables the implementation of the DU 230 and CU 210 in cloud-based RAN architectures (such as vRAN architectures).

[0072] SMO framework 205 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, SMO framework 205 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces such as the O1 interface. For virtualized network elements, SMO framework 205 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 290 to perform network element lifecycle management (to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface such as the O2 interface. Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 210, DU 230, RU 240, and near-RT RIC 225. In some specific implementations, SMO framework 205 may communicate with the hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as Open eNB (O-eNB) 211) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 205 may communicate directly with one or more DU 230s and / or one or more RU 240s via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 205 may also include a non-RT RIC 215 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 205.

[0073] The non-RT RIC 215 can be configured to include logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, including artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows for model training and updates, or policy-based guidance for applications / features in the near-RT RIC 225. The non-RT RIC 215 can be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 225, such as via an A1 interface. The near-RT RIC 225 can be configured to include logical functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via an interface, such as via an E2 interface, through data collection and actions, connecting one or more CU 210s, one or more DU 230s, or both, and O-eNBs to the near-RT RIC 225.

[0074] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 225, the non-RT RIC 215 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. This information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 225 and may be received from non-network data sources or network functions at the SMO framework 205 or the non-RT RIC 215. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 215 or the near-RT RIC 225 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 215 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 205 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or by creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0075] Figure 3 Various aspects of examples BS 102 and UE 104 are described.

[0076] Generally, BS 102 includes various processors (e.g., 318, 320, 330, 338, and 340), antennas 334a to 334t (collectively referred to as 334), transceivers 332a to 332t (collectively referred to as 332) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable the wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 312) and the wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 314). For example, BS 102 can transmit and receive data between BS 102 and UE 104. BS 102 includes a controller / processor 340 that can be configured to implement the various wireless communication-related functions described herein. Note that BS 102 may have the features described herein. Figure 2 The decomposed architecture described.

[0077] Generally, UE 104 includes various processors (e.g., 358, 364, 366, 370, and 380), antennas 352a to 352r (collectively referred to as 352), transceivers 354a to 354r (collectively referred to as 354) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable the wireless transmission of data (e.g., retrieval from data source 362) and the wireless reception of data (e.g., provision to data sink 360). UE 104 includes a controller / processor 380 that can be configured to implement the various wireless communication-related functions described herein.

[0078] Regarding example downlink transmission, BS 102 includes a transmission processor 320 that can receive data from data source 312 and control information from controller / processor 340. This control information may be for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Group Common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and / or others. In some examples, this data may be for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0079] The transmitter processor 320 can process data and control information (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmitter processor 320 can also generate reference symbols (such as those for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)).

[0080] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 330 can perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols where applicable, and can provide the output symbol stream to the modulators (MODs) in transceivers 332a to 332t. Each modulator in transceivers 332a to 332t can process the corresponding output symbol stream to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signal from the modulators in transceivers 332a to 332t can be transmitted via antennas 334a to 334t, respectively.

[0081] To receive downlink transmissions, UE 104 includes antennas 352a to 352r that receive downlink signals from BS 102 and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 354a to 354r, respectively. Each demodulator in transceivers 354a to 354r can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the corresponding received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator can further process the input sample to obtain the received symbols.

[0082] The RX MIMO detector 356 acquires received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 354a to 354r, performs MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and provides the detected symbols. The receive processor 358 processes the detected symbols (e.g., demodulation, deinterleaving, and decoding), provides the decoded data of UE 104 to data sink 360, and provides the decoded control information to controller / processor 380.

[0083] Regarding example uplink transmission, UE 104 also includes a transmit processor 364 that receives and processes data from data source 362 (e.g., for PUSCH) and control information from controller / processor 380 (e.g., for Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). Transmit processor 364 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS)). Symbols from transmit processor 364 may be pre-decoded by TX MIMO processor 366 where applicable, further processed by modulators in transceivers 354a to 354r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS 102.

[0084] At BS 102, uplink signals from UE 104 can be received by antennas 334a to 334t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 332a to 332t, detected where applicable by RX MIMO detector 336, and further processed by receiver processor 338 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 104. Receiver processor 338 can provide the decoded data to data sink 314 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 340.

[0085] Memory 342 and memory 382 can store data and program code for BS 102 and UE 104, respectively.

[0086] Scheduler 344 can schedule UE to send data on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0087] In various respects, BS 102 can be described as transmitting and receiving various types of data associated with the methods described herein. In these contexts, “transmitting” can refer to various mechanisms that output data, such as from data source 312, scheduler 344, memory 342, transmit processor 320, controller / processor 340, TX MIMO processor 330, transceivers 332a to 332t, antennas 334a to 334t, and / or other aspects described herein. Similarly, “receiving” can refer to various mechanisms that acquire data, such as from antennas 334a to 334t, transceivers 332a to 332t, RX MIMO detector 336, controller / processor 340, receive processor 338, scheduler 344, memory 342, and / or other aspects described herein.

[0088] In various respects, UE 104 can also be described as transmitting and receiving various types of data associated with the methods described herein. In these contexts, “transmitting” can refer to various mechanisms that output data, such as from data source 362, memory 382, ​​transmit processor 364, controller / processor 380, TX MIMO processor 366, transceivers 354a to 354t, antennas 352a to 352t, and / or other aspects described herein. Similarly, “receiving” can refer to various mechanisms that acquire data, such as from antennas 352a to 352t, transceivers 354a to 354t, RX MIMO detector 356, controller / processor 380, receive processor 358, memory 382, ​​and / or other aspects described herein.

[0089] In some respects, the processor can be configured to perform various operations (such as those associated with the methods described herein) and to send (output) data to or receive data from another interface configured to send or receive data, respectively.

[0090] In various aspects, artificial intelligence (AI) processors 318 and 370 may perform AI processing for BS 102 and / or UE 104, respectively. AI processor 318 may include AI accelerator hardware or circuitry, such as one or more neural processing units (NPUs), one or more neural network processors, one or more tensor processors, one or more deep learning processors, etc. AI processor 370 may similarly include AI accelerator hardware or circuitry. As examples, AI processor 370 may perform AI-based beam management, AI-based channel state feedback (CSF), AI-based antenna tuning, and / or AI-based localization (e.g., non-line-of-sight localization prediction). In some cases, AI processor 318 may use hardware-accelerated AI inference and / or AI training to process feedback (e.g., CSF) from UE 104. AI processor 318 may, for example, use hardware-accelerated AI inference associated with CSF to decode compressed CSF from UE 104. In some cases, AI processor 318 may perform certain RAN-based functions, including, for example, network planning, network performance management, energy-efficient network operation, etc.

[0091] Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D Describes the use of wireless communication networks (such as Figure 1 All aspects of the data structure of the wireless communication network 100.

[0092] Specifically, Figure 4A Figure 400 is an example of the first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure. Figure 4B Figure 430 illustrates an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe. Figure 4C Figure 450 illustrates an example of the second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and Figure 4D Figure 480 illustrates an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

[0093] Wireless communication systems can utilize Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on both the uplink and downlink. Such systems can also support half-duplex operation using Time Division Duplex (TDD). OFDM and Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiplexing (SC-FDM) will (e.g., as...) Figure 4B and Figure 4D The system bandwidth (as depicted in the text) is divided into multiple orthogonal subcarriers. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols can be transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and / or in the time domain using SC-FDM.

[0094] Wireless communication frame structures can be frequency division duplex (FDD), where for a specific set of subcarriers, subframes within that set are dedicated to either deep (DL) or ultra-low (UL). Wireless communication frame structures can also be time division duplex (TDD), where for a specific set of subcarriers, subframes within that set are dedicated to both DL and UL.

[0095] exist Figure 4A and Figure 4C In this example, the wireless communication frame structure is TDD, where D stands for DL, U for UL, and X is flexibly used between DL and UL. The UE can configure the time slot format using the received Time Slot Format Indicator (SFI) (dynamically via DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). In the depicted example, a 10ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized 1ms subframes. Each subframe may include one or more time slots. In some examples, each time slot may include 12 or 14 symbols, depending on the Cyclic Prefix (CP) type (e.g., 12 symbols per time slot for extended CP, or 14 symbols per time slot for regular CP). Subframes may also include micro-time slots, which typically have fewer symbols than the entire time slot. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0096] In some respects, the number of time slots within a subframe (e.g., the time slot duration within a subframe) is based on a parameter set that defines the frequency-domain subcarrier spacing and symbol duration, as further described herein. In some respects, given a parameter set μ, each subframe has 2 μ The number of time slots is 1. Therefore, parameter sets (µ) 0 through 6 allow for 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 time slots per subframe, respectively. In some cases, extended CP (e.g., 12 symbols per time slot) can be used with specific parameter sets; for example, parameter set 2 allows for 4 time slots per subframe. Subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the parameter set. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to... kHz, where μ is the parameter set from 0 to 6. As an example, the parameter set... Corresponding to a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and the parameter set This corresponds to a subcarrier spacing of 960 kHz. Symbol length / duration is negatively correlated with subcarrier spacing. Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D It provides a slot format with 14 symbols per slot (e.g., regular CP) and a parameter set with 4 slots per subframe. Example. In this case, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0097] like Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D As depicted, the resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also known as a physical RB (PRB)) extending for, for example, 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme, including, for example, quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM).

[0098] like Figure 4A As illustrated in the example, some REs in the RE carry information for the UE (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 3 The reference (pilot) signal (RS) for the UE (104) may include a demodulation RS (DMRS) and / or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and / or a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0099] Figure 4B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries the DCI within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), each CCE comprising, for example, nine RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising, for example, four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol.

[0100] The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) can be located within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is generated by the UE (e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 3 104) is used to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identifier.

[0101] The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) can be located in symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identifier group number and radio frame timing.

[0102] Based on the Physical Layer Identifier and Physical Layer Cell Identifier Group Number, the UE can determine the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DMRS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the Master Information Block (MIB) can be logically combined with the PSS and SSS to form a Synchronization Signal (SS) / PBCH Block (SSB), and in some cases, it is referred to as the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB). The MIB provides the System Frame Number (SFN) and the number of RBs in the system bandwidth. The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information (such as System Information Block (SIB)) not transmitted via the PBCH, and / or paging messages.

[0103] like Figure 4C As illustrated, some REs in the REs carry DMRS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for a particular configuration, but other DMRS configurations are possible). The UE can transmit DMRS for PUCCH and DMRS for PUSCH. PUSCH DMRS can be transmitted, for example, in the first or second symbol before the PUSCH. PUCCH DMRS can be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is being transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. UE104 can transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). SRS can be transmitted, for example, in the last symbol of a subframe. SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can transmit SRS on one of the comb teeth. SRS can be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.

[0104] Figure 4D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH can be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), pre-decoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power clearance reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0105] Aspects related to grouping equipment and allocating resources to equipment groups Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C Various example aspects of A-IoT communication systems are described. In some examples, the A-IoT communication system can be as shown in the reference. Figure 1 An example of the described wireless communication network 100. Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5CEach element in an A-IoT communication system can describe the communication between the reader device and the tag. In some examples, the reader device can be represented as shown in the reference. Figure 1 The described wireless communication devices include network entities, base stations, and UEs. Additionally, tags may be referred to as or include wireless communication devices, A-IoT devices, RFID tags, passive UEs, backscatter UEs, etc.

[0106] Specifically, Figure 5A An A-IoT communication system 500 is depicted in which a reader device 504 communicates with a tag 506. In some examples, the reader device 504 may include and / or may be referred to as an RFID integrator, which can send and receive communications with the tag 506. Additionally, in some embodiments, the RFID system typically includes a reader device 504 and a tag 506. The tag 506 may include a simple structure and / or envelope detector for receiving CW from the reader device 504. For example, the reader device 504 may use an antenna 532 (e.g., similar to...). Figure 3 The antenna 352a transmits the CW, which is received by tag 506 via a forward link (FL) 508 (e.g., a link from an RF source (such as reader device 504 or more generally an FL transmitter) to tag 506). The CW is a waveform (e.g., a sine wave) that can be modulated using data (e.g., an information-bearing signal) to generate a modulated signal that transmits the data.

[0107] In some examples, reader device 504 may transmit CW based on an electromagnetic (EM) signal 512 that transmits CW and data (e.g., intended for use with tag 506). FL CW can be used to power on tag 506, provide CW to tag 506, or both. FL data may include FL information, which may be commands, ACK / NACK feedback, etc.

[0108] Based on the received FL 508, tag 506 can then modulate the CW (e.g., by changing the impedance of the antenna coupled to tag 506, which changes the amplitude and / or phase of the CW) to generate backscatter data (e.g., a modulated backscatter signal). Tag 506 can then transmit (e.g., reflect) the backscatter data via a backscatter link (BL) 510. For example, tag 506 can transmit and / or reflect an EM signal 514, including backscatter data, back to reader device 504 via BL 510. Additionally or alternatively, BL 510 may be referred to as a backscatter link. In some embodiments, the backscatter data may be referred to as or may include BL information, such as ACK / NACK feedback from tag 506, data to be transmitted or backscattered by tag 506, or other BL information. In some embodiments, reader device 504 may be referred to as or may include a BL receiver. Additionally, reader device 504 and the RF source may be the same device (e.g., a monobase device, whose reference...). Figure 6A and Figure 6B (To be described in more detail), it can usually be referred to as a reader.

[0109] exist Figure 5B The image depicts an A-IoT communication system 501. The A-IoT communication system 501 may include a reader device 504 and a tag 506. Figure 5B In the example, reader device 504 may include or may be a network entity (e.g., gNB, base station, etc.). Therefore, as referenced Figure 5A The FL 508 described for communication from reader device 504 to tag 506 may include or may be DL communication, and as referenced Figure 5A The BL510 described for communication from tag 506 to reader device 504 may include or may be UL communication. In some implementations, A-IoT may be referred to as zero-power (ZP)-IoT, such as in cases where the tag does not need to be self-powered and can harvest energy from CW for operation.

[0110] exist Figure 5C The image depicts an A-IoT communication system 502. The A-IoT communication system 502 may include a network entity 516, a reader device 504, and a tag 506. The network entity 516 may communicate with the reader device 504 via a Uu interface (e.g., a UMTS air interface). The reader device 504 and the tag 506 may use FL and BL (e.g., as shown in references). Figure 6A The described FL508 and BL 510 communicate with each other. In some embodiments, reader device 504 may include or may be a UE that acts as a relay for communication between network entity 516 and tag 506. Figure 5CIn the example, reader device 504 can be or may be referred to as a relay device (e.g., similar to a side link (SL) relay), but the interface between reader device 504 and tag 506 is not considered a side link.

[0111] In some implementations, tag 506 may be more powerful than a passive tag or device based on the use of energy harvesting and energy storage. In such implementations, BL 510 may refer to a “reverse link” if tag 506 can actively transmit signals (e.g., not just based on having more power to reflect modulated signals).

[0112] Table 1 below describes the different types of devices and / or tags that can exist in A-IoT.

[0113] Table 1 - Devices in A-IoT

[0114] Figure 6A , Figure 6B and Figure 6C Various example aspects of monostatic and bistatic A-IoT communication systems are described. For example, Figure 6A and Figure 6B Examples of a single-base A-IoT communication system 600 and an example of a single-base A-IoT communication system 601 can be described respectively, and Figure 6C A bistatic A-IoT communication system 602 can be described. The difference between monostatic and bistatic may refer to whether the reader device in each corresponding A-IoT communication system is the same device as the RF source or a different device. For monostatic A-IoT communication systems 600 and 601, the RF source and reader device can be the same device (e.g., commonly referred to as "reader"). Additionally or alternatively, for bistatic A-IoT communication system 602, the RF source and reader device can be different devices.

[0115] exist Figure 6AIn a monostatic A-IoT communication system 600, a reader 604 may include an RF source 606 (e.g., a transmitter) and a reader device 608 (e.g., a receiver). Additionally, the reader 604 may include an antenna 610 (e.g., for facilitating monostatic backscattering using the same antenna). The reader 604 may transmit a signal 614 (e.g., a transmitted signal) from the RF source 606 to the tag 612 via the antenna 610. For example, the signal 614 may be transmitted via an FL (Frequency Line). The tag 612 may respond by transmitting a backscattered signal 616 to the reader device 604, which may be received by the reader 608 via the antenna 610. For example, the backscattered signal may be transmitted via a BL (Browser Line). In some embodiments, a certain amount of signal 618 may be reflected from the antenna 610. Therefore, the reader device 608 may receive the backscattered signal 616 based on considering the certain amount of signal 618 together with the backscattered signal 616.

[0116] exist Figure 6B In the monostatic A-IoT communication system 601, the reader 604 may also include an RF source 606 (e.g., a transmitter) and a reader device 608 (e.g., a receiver), but may also include a first antenna 620 (e.g., a transmitting antenna) for the RF source 606 and a second antenna 622 (e.g., a receiving antenna) for the reader device 608 (e.g., for facilitating monostatic backscattering using separate antennas). Therefore, the reader 604 may transmit a signal 614 (e.g., a transmitting signal) from the RF source 606 to the tag 612 via the first antenna 620 (e.g., via the FL). The tag 612 may respond by transmitting a backscattered signal 616 to the reader device 608, which may be received via the second antenna 622 (e.g., via the BL). In some embodiments, signal leakage 624 may occur between the first antenna 620 and the second antenna 622. Therefore, the reader device 608 may receive the backscattered signal 616 based on considering the signal leakage 624 together with the backscattered signal 616. exist Figure 6C In the dual-base A-IoT communication system 602, the RF source and the reader device can be different devices. For example, the RF source may include network entity 626 (e.g., an FL transmitter) or other devices that can transmit modulated and unmodulated signals (e.g., CW), such as signal 614. Additionally, the reader device may include UE 628 (e.g., a BL receiver) or other devices that can receive backscattered signal 618 from tag 612. For example, tag 612 can receive modulated and unmodulated signals from network entity 626 and can reflect and / or actively transmit modulated signals to UE 628.

[0117] Figure 7A , Figure 7B , Figure 7C, Figure 7D and Figure 7E Various example aspects of allocating resources to a group of devices are described. In some examples, these example aspects of allocating resources to a group of devices can be used to group A-IoT devices (e.g., tags, RFID tags, passive UEs, backscatter UEs, etc.) to communicate with devices such as network entities and / or readers as described herein. Resources can then be allocated to the A-IoT device group by the network entities and / or readers.

[0118] It should be noted that although certain aspects of grouping A-IoT devices are discussed as illustrative examples, the techniques discussed herein can be used to similarly perform grouping of other types of devices. Furthermore, certain aspects of network entities and / or readers acting as grouping devices are discussed herein as illustrative examples. However, it should be noted that grouping can be performed by any suitable grouping device according to the techniques discussed herein. Additionally, certain aspects of a grouped device (e.g., an A-IoT device) communicating with the grouping device using resources allocated to the grouped device are discussed as illustrative examples. However, it should be noted that a grouped device can use the allocated resources to communicate with any suitable device.

[0119] For example, regarding Figure 5C In some aspects, network entity 516 can act as a grouping device, tag 506 can be a grouped device, and reader 504 can be a device that the grouped device communicates with using allocated resources. In some aspects, network entity 516 can act as a grouping device, tag 506 can be a grouped device, and network entity 516 can be a device that the grouped device communicates with indirectly via reader 504 using allocated resources. In some aspects, reader 504 can act as a grouping device, tag 506 can be a grouped device, and reader 504 can be a device that the grouped device communicates with using allocated resources.

[0120] For example, regarding Figure 5B In some respects, reader 504 can act as a grouping device, tag 506 can be a grouped device, and reader 504 can be a device with which the grouped device communicates using allocated resources.

[0121] Figure 7AEach A-IoT device is depicted with a group identifier (ID) 700 (e.g., a Layer 1 ID). The group identifier 700 may include a group ID 706 indicating which group the A-IoT device belongs to. The group identifier 700 may also include an identifier 708 (also called a process identifier or pID) for the A-IoT devices within the group. The pID may be a unique identifier for the A-IoT devices within the group, but different groups may reuse the same pID. In some respects, the pID 708 may be short (e.g., two bits).

[0122] In some aspects, the grouping identifier 700 of the A-IoT devices is determined during a random access process, such as when one or more A-IoT devices attempt to connect to a grouping device (e.g., a network entity and / or a reader). For example, the grouping device may transmit (e.g., broadcast) an FL packet indicating that the grouping device is initiating a round of random access. Although described as an "FL packet," an FL packet can be any suitable message or packet, depending on the grouping device. Each of the one or more A-IoT devices (e.g., performing random access to the grouping device) may respond to the FL packet by transmitting a corresponding message (e.g., MsgA) to the grouping device indicating that the A-IoT device is performing random access, which includes the identifier of the A-IoT device, such as a unique identifier and / or a contention resolution identifier (CRI). In some aspects, the corresponding message of the A-IoT device may include a random access preamble and / or the identifier of the grouping device. In some aspects, the corresponding message of the A-IoT device may include additional information, such as the amount of data to be communicated at the A-IoT device and / or a set of indications for one or more additional factors. As used herein, the set may include one or more elements.

[0123] In some aspects, the grouping device can group A-IoT devices into the same group (e.g., as indicated by group ID 706) based on which A-IoT devices are successfully accessed in the current round of the random access procedure (e.g., the grouping device is configured with a semi-persistent "round" time during which A-IoT devices may attempt to connect to n grouping devices, such as via the Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure for each round). In some implementations, the grouping of A-IoT devices can be performed in operation.

[0124] In some respects, FL packets may also include configurations of resource allocation, such as resource pools (also known as access timing). Figure 7BResource allocation 701 is depicted. For example, a grouping device may send an FL packet 710, wherein the FL packet 710 triggers the start of a “round” in which one or more A-IoT devices attempt to establish communication with the grouping device. In some embodiments, the FL packet 710 may include a group ID 706. In some embodiments, the FL packet 710 does not include a group ID. In some aspects, the FL packet 710 includes an indication of or configuration of an Access Opportunity (AO) pool 712. The AO pool 712 may define multiple AOs. In some aspects, the AO pool may occur periodically in time, wherein each periodic occurrence includes an instance of multiple AOs. An AO may refer to a communication resource (e.g., a time resource, a frequency resource, a spatial resource, a code for code division, any combination thereof, etc.). For example, an A-IoT device allocated one or more AOs may be able to communicate (e.g., transmit) on that one or more AOs, such as conveying one or more signals including one or more messages (e.g., including data, feedback information, command responses, etc.).

[0125] For example, AO pool 712 may include a set of (e.g., consecutive) resources in the time and frequency domains that may be used for, for example, random access or service data. Although AO pool 712 is shown as a set of resources in the frequency domain, it should be understood that AO pool 712 may include resources in the time domain, frequency domain, code domain, transitions across time and frequency resources, or combinations thereof.

[0126] For example, AO pool 712 can be used by each of one or more A-IoT devices to send a first message (e.g., MsgA) indicating that the A-IoT device is performing random access, as discussed. For example, three (3) A-IoT devices can use the first instances of multiple AOs of AO pool 712 to send the first message. For example, three (3) A-IoT devices may include device X, device Y, and device Z.

[0127] Figure 7C Resource allocation 702 for assigning AOs to A-IoT devices is described. For example, resource allocation 702 may map identifiers from three (3) A-IoT devices that send the first message to AOs 720 to AO 724, which may be AOs of AO pool 712. It should be noted that AOs may be assigned to more or fewer devices, and more than one AO ​​may be assigned to a given device. In some respects, AOs 720 to AO 724 may be multiple AOs that occur periodically. Therefore, the allocation of AOs 720 to AO 724 may refer to the allocation of one or more instances of AOs 720 to AO 724.

[0128] For example, in response to the first message, the grouping device may transmit a corresponding second message (e.g., MsgB) to each A-IoT device to be included in the group, the second message also indicating the pID of each A-IoT device. The second message may include the identifier of the A-IoT device to which the second message is addressed, such as the CRI of the A-IoT device. The second message may include the group ID 706 of the group. In some aspects, the FL packet 710 may include the group ID 706 of the group. Therefore, an A-IoT device receiving the second message with the identifier of the A-IoT device may determine the group ID 706 of the A-IoT device based on the FL packet 710 and / or the second message, and determine the pID 708 of the A-IoT device based on the second message.

[0129] As shown in the figure, the grouping device sequentially transmits a second message 714 for device Y, a second message 716 for device Z, and a second message 718 for device X. Each A-IoT device X, Y, and Z can receive each of the second messages 716 through 718. The order in which the grouping device transmits each of the second messages 716 through 718 can be determined based on the time at which each first message from each device is received at the grouping device. For example, the grouping device can receive the first message first from device Y, then from device Z, and third from device X. Additionally or alternatively, the grouping device can transmit each second message to each corresponding device based on different criteria (such as scrambling codes used by the devices, device identifier values, etc.).

[0130] In some respects, the order in which the grouping device transmits each second message to each corresponding device can indicate the temporal order of each pID mapped to each A-IoT device in the group. For example, device Y can determine that its pID in the group is "1" based on the second message 714 being transmitted first, device Z can determine that its pID in the group is "2" based on the second message 716 being transmitted second, and device X can determine that its pID in the group is "3" based on the third message 718 being transmitted third.

[0131] Subsequently, the corresponding pID in the group can indicate or map to an AO assigned to each A-IoT device in the A-IoT device group, such as a resource index of the AO. For example, device Y may be assigned a first AO 720 for communication based on its pID "1" after the RACH process is completed, device Z may be assigned a second AO 722 for communication based on its pID "2" after the RACH process is completed, and device X may be assigned a third AO 724 for communication based on its pID "3" after the RACH process is completed. In some cases, each device implicitly determines which AOs are assigned to it based on its pID. For example, a device may be configured to divide the AO pool into AO sets, where the number of sets equals the number of devices in the group (e.g., based on the number of second messages). The device can then select the AO set corresponding to the device's pID. For example, AOs may be divided based on frequency, with a first pID associated with a first lowest frequency range, a second pID associated with a second lowest frequency range, and so on.

[0132] In some implementations, A-IoT devices may use these assigned AOs for communication, such as with network entities and / or readers, until the next “round” time in which the A-IoT device can attempt to connect to the grouped device is triggered and / or begins. Additionally or alternatively, A-IoT devices may use these assigned AOs for communication, such as with network entities and / or readers, until each A-IoT device has completed its communication (such as with a network entity and / or reader).

[0133] Figure 7D Resource allocation 703 for assigning AOs to A-IoT devices is described. For example, resource allocation 703 may map identifiers from three (3) A-IoT devices that send the first message to AOs 720 to AO 724, which may be AOs of AO pool 712. It should be noted that AOs may be assigned to more or fewer devices, and more than one AO ​​may be assigned to a given device. In some respects, AOs 720 to AO 724 may be multiple AOs that occur periodically. Therefore, the allocation of AOs 720 to AO 724 may refer to the allocation of one or more instances of AOs 720 to AO 724.

[0134] exist Figure 7D In the example, the grouping device may send a single second message 726, which includes a first CRI 728 corresponding to device Y, a second CRI 730 corresponding to device Z, and a third CRI 732 corresponding to device X. The second message 726 may include a group ID 706 to be assigned to the group of A-IoT devices. The second message 726 may include an indicator of the group size (e.g., the number of devices). (See reference...) Figure 7C The method described for determining the pID to indicate the mapping to the AO using the timing of the second message transmission can be reversed. Instead, the pID for each device can be determined using the order of the CRIs, which indicate or map to the AO assigned to each A-IoT device (e.g., such that device Y is mapped to pID 1 associated with the first AO 720, device Z is mapped to pID 2 associated with the second AO 722, and device X is mapped to pID 3 associated with the third AO 724). In some embodiments, the first CRI 728, the second CRI 730, and the third CRI 732 can be truncated CRIs and / or can be the full CRI for each device. In some aspects, the CRI or the truncated CRI itself can be the pID.

[0135] Figure 7E Describes the assignment and / or mapping of AOs to devices (such as references) Figure 7B The resource allocation 704 describes the allocation of resources for each of the three (3) A-IoT devices that send the first message. It should be noted that AOs may be allocated to more or fewer devices, and more than one AO ​​may be allocated to a given device. In some respects, AOs 720 to AO 724 may be multiple AOs that occur periodically. Therefore, the allocation of AOs 720 to AO 724 may refer to the allocation of one or more instances of AOs 720 to AO 724. In some respects, resource allocation 704 is performed after the initial resource allocation of the A-IoT device to which group ID 706 is assigned.

[0136] For example, a grouping device may transmit FL packets 734 that include indications of AO pools (such as AO 720 to AO 724) or the configuration of those AO pools. FL packets 734 may also include a group ID to which the AO pool is assigned. Devices in the group may receive FL packets 734, identify the AO pools used for that group based on the group ID, and determine which AOs are assigned to each device based on the pIDs determined as discussed above.

[0137] Figure 8 A process flow 800 for communication between a reader 802 and one or more A-IoT devices 804 is described. Process flow 800 may include operations for configuring an AO to one or more A-IoT devices 804 as described herein, mapping the AO to the one or more A-IoT devices, and / or indicating the AO to the one or more A-IoT devices to enable communication between the reader 802 and the one or more A-IoT devices 804. The reader 802 may represent a network entity, a reader device, a reader, etc., as referenced herein. Figures 5A to 7EAs described. Additionally, one or more A-IoT devices 804 may represent tags, RFID tags, passive UEs, backscatter UEs, etc., as referenced. Figures 5A to 7E As described.

[0138] At 806, a first round of attempts by one or more A-IoT devices 804 to establish a connection with reader 802 may be triggered and / or initiated. For example, the first round may be triggered and / or initiated based on FL packets transmitted by reader 802 that can be received by one or more A-IoT devices 804. In some embodiments, the FL packet may include an indication of a group ID (e.g., specific to the first round) and / or a configuration of that group ID.

[0139] At 808, as part of the first round, reader 802 and one or more A-IoT devices 804 may perform a random access procedure (e.g., a two-step RACH procedure) to establish a connection. During the random access procedure, based on the received FL packet, at least one of the one or more A-IoT devices 804 may transmit a first random access message (e.g., MsgA) to reader 802 (e.g., using an AO pool). Subsequently, reader 802 may configure and / or assign (e.g., implicitly or explicitly) a pID (e.g., based on CRI) to each A-IoT device that transmitted the first random access message. For example, reader 802 may configure and / or assign the pID based on when a second random access message (e.g., MsgB) is transmitted to each A-IoT device that transmitted the first random access message and / or based on the order of the corresponding CRIs in the second random access message for each A-IoT device that transmitted the first random access message. As previously described, the pID can then be mapped to resource 810 (e.g., AO) allocated to each of the A-IoT devices performing the random access procedure. That is, reader 802 can allocate resource 810 (e.g., AO) to A-IoT devices that have the same group ID and are performing the random access procedure at 808 for further communication.

[0140] At 812, further communication between reader 802 and one or more A-IoT devices may occur on resource 810 assigned to A-IoT devices having the same group ID and performing a random access procedure at 808. In some implementations, further communication may include device memory read / write, device lock / unlock, other commands, etc.

[0141] At 814, a second round can be triggered and / or initiated for other A-IoT devices 804 that failed to establish a connection during the first round to attempt to establish a connection with reader 802. For example, the second round can be triggered and / or initiated based on reader 802 transmitting another FL packet that can be received by one or more A-IoT devices 804. In some embodiments, the FL packet may include an indication of a group ID (e.g., specific to the second round) and / or a configuration of that group ID. Additionally or alternatively, when the second round is triggered, all A-IoT devices 804 of the one or more A-IoT devices 804 may attempt to establish a connection with reader 802, and those A-IoT devices that failed in the first round may also attempt to establish a connection as if the second round were their first round.

[0142] At 816, as part of the second round, reader 802 and one or more A-IoT devices 804 may perform a random access procedure to establish a connection. During the random access procedure, reader 802 may configure a group ID and a pID within the group for the A-IoT devices performing the random access procedure during 816, as previously described but for each A-IoT device performing the random access procedure at 816. The pID can then be mapped to resources 818 (e.g., AO) allocated to each A-IoT device performing the random access procedure at 816. That is, reader 802 may allocate resources 818 (e.g., AO) to A-IoT devices with the same group ID and performing the random access procedure at 816 for further communication.

[0143] At 820, further communication between reader 802 and one or more A-IoT devices may occur on resource 818 assigned to A-IoT devices with the same group ID and which perform a random access procedure at 816. In some implementations, further communication may include device memory read / write, device lock / unlock, other commands, etc.

[0144] Figure 9Example aspects of resource allocation 900 with different data volumes are depicted. Resource allocation 900 can be used to allocate resources to one or more A-IoT devices to enable communication between one or more A-IoT devices and network entities and / or readers, as described herein. For example, a grouping device may transmit a first FL packet 902 that triggers and / or initiates a round of connection establishment by the A-IoT devices. Additionally, the first FL packet 902 may allocate AOs to the devices, such as allocating three (3) AOs (e.g., based on the device's assigned or determined pID) to three (3) corresponding A-IoT devices (e.g., device X, device Y, and device Z) in the group. In some embodiments, the grouping device may transmit a second FL packet 904 to the group comprising three (3) A-IoT devices. In response to the first FL packet 902 and / or the second FL packet 904, each device in the group may have appropriate information 906 to transmit back to the network entity and / or reader (e.g., in the allocated (3) AOs). For example, device X may transmit (e.g., send (TX)) a message (e.g., data) in the first AO 908, device Y may transmit a message in the second AO 910, and device Z may transmit a message in the third AO 912.

[0145] However, in some implementations, A-IoT devices within the same group may have different amounts of data to transmit. For example, network entities and / or readers may read the device memory of each A-IoT device in the group, and different devices may have different amounts of data in their memory to be transmitted to the network entity and / or reader. Figure 9 In the example, device X may have 100 bits to transmit in memory, device Y may have 200 bits to transmit in memory, and device Z may have 300 bits to transmit in memory.

[0146] In some implementations, grouping devices may support “group common” resource allocation for A-IoT devices within a group. Group common resource allocation may involve devices within the same group using the same amount of communication resources and, in some cases, using the same data rate or modulation / decoding scheme (MCS) to communicate. However, when different devices have different amounts of data to send, “group common” resource allocation can lead to inefficiencies.

[0147] Therefore, the techniques and signaling described herein can provide the ability to group A-IoT devices and allocate resources to the device groups based on one or more factors. For example, grouping devices can group A-IoT devices into appropriate groups based on which A-IoT devices have similar amounts of data to be communicated and / or based on additional factors as discussed, which can be indicated by the A-IoT devices themselves, and will refer to... Figure 10 and Figure 11For more detailed description. In some implementations, the grouping device may also transmit one or more configurations assigned to one or more AO pools for communication within the A-IoT device group.

[0148] Additionally or alternatively, grouping devices can dynamically manage A-IoT device groups by indicating which A-IoT devices will no longer be included in the group, which A-IoT devices will remain in the group, which A-IoT devices will be added to the group, or a combination thereof, which will refer to Figure 12 To describe in more detail.

[0149] Additionally or alternatively, the grouping device may select subgroups of A-IoT devices within a group for resource allocation. For example, the grouping device may indicate: whether the message addresses the entire group or a subgroup of the group, the size of the subgroup, the group's common identifier, and one or more identifiers of the individual A-IoT devices to be included or excluded from the subgroup, or any combination thereof, which will refer to... Figure 13 A more detailed description is provided. Additionally or alternatively, the grouping device may allocate the same amount of resources to each A-IoT device in the same group. For example, the reader may allocate resources to each A-IoT device in the group based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the A-IoT devices in the group, and / or may instruct the same resource allocation for the group over multiple time periods until all A-IoT devices in the group have no data to communicate, which will be referred to... Figure 14 To describe in more detail.

[0150] In some respects, to mitigate the problem of different A-IoT devices within the same group having different amounts of data to be communicated or different other additional factors, as previously described, a group may include A-IoT devices classified or assigned to the same group that have similar amounts of data to be communicated and / or other factors. For example, a grouping device may group A-IoT devices into groups, where each group is associated with a range of data to be communicated. For example, a grouping device may define multiple ranges of data to be communicated, such as dividing the devices into groups, such that each range is associated with a group. A device may be assigned to a group where the amount of data to be communicated at that device is within the range associated with that group.

[0151] In some respects, each group is further or alternatively associated with one or more values ​​or ranges of values ​​of one or more additional factors in discussion, such that devices are further grouped based on one or more additional factors. For example, multiple groups may be associated with the same range of data volume to be communicated, but with different values ​​or ranges of values ​​of one or more additional factors. Devices with data volumes and values ​​that fall within the values ​​or ranges of values ​​associated with a group can then be assigned to that group.

[0152] Therefore, in some implementations, in order to group A-IoT devices based on the amount of data to be communicated and / or additional factors, the grouping device can classify or assign multiple groups in each “round” (e.g., for A-IoT devices to attempt to establish communication with network entities and / or readers).

[0153] exist Figure 10 In the examples, different groups are shown as being assigned different resources, where different groups may be for the same "round". For example, a grouping device may assign one or more A-IoT devices to a first group and one or more A-IoT devices to a second group. For example, the first group (e.g., group "X") may include a first A-IoT device (e.g., device X_1), a second A-IoT device (e.g., device X_2), and a third A-IoT device (e.g., device X_3). Similarly, the second group (e.g., group "Y") may include a first A-IoT device (e.g., device Y_1), a second A-IoT device (e.g., device Y_2), and a third A-IoT device (e.g., device Y_3).

[0154] As indicated above, different devices with different values ​​for different amounts of data to be communicated and / or one or more additional factors can be classified into different groups. For example, each group may be associated with a corresponding range of data to be communicated. In some embodiments, grouping devices may occur during the random access phase (e.g., in reference...). Figure 8 During the described random access procedure, the amount of data to be communicated for each A-IoT device and / or different values ​​of one or more additional factors are determined. For example, each A-IoT device may indicate the amount of data to be communicated when it transmits the first message of the random access procedure (e.g., MsgA). Additionally or alternatively, each A-IoT device may indicate the amount of data to be communicated in a separate message (e.g., during or outside the random access procedure). In some embodiments, when each A-IoT device is assigned to a corresponding group, the grouping device may transmit a corresponding indication of the group to which the A-IoT device is assigned, such as regarding... Figures 7A to 7E As described.

[0155] Subsequently, after assigning A-IoT devices to the appropriate groups, the grouping device can transmit corresponding messages (e.g., FL grouping, second message (e.g., MsgB)) to each group to indicate the allocation of AOs for each A-IoT device in each group, such as regarding... Figures 7A to 7E The discussion focuses on the grouping device, which, in some aspects, can transmit a first message 1002 to a first group (e.g., group "X", which includes A-IoT devices X_1, X_2, X_3), instructing each A-IoT device in the first group to report its corresponding data and / or allocation to the AO. Figure 10In the example, the first group may include A-IoT devices, each with approximately 100 bits to transmit. Therefore, each A-IoT device in the first group can transmit its corresponding data in a corresponding AO mapped to each A-IoT device in the first group (e.g., based on the corresponding pID of each A-IoT device as previously described) using the AO sub-pool 1004 assigned to the first group. For example, a reader may read 90 bits from a first A-IoT device (e.g., device X_1) in the first AO 1006, 80 bits from a second A-IoT device (e.g., device X_2) in the first AO 1008, and 100 bits from a third A-IoT device (e.g., device X_3) in the first AO 1010.

[0156] Additionally or alternatively, the grouping device may transmit a second message 1012 to a second group (e.g., group "Y", which includes A-IoT devices Y_1, Y_2, Y_3), the second message instructing each A-IoT device in the second group to report its corresponding data and / or allocation to AO. Figure 10 In the example, the second group may include A-IoT devices, each with approximately 50 bits to transmit. Therefore, each A-IoT device in the second group can transmit its corresponding data in a corresponding AO mapped to each A-IoT device in the second group (e.g., based on the corresponding pID of each A-IoT device as previously described) using the AO sub-pool 1014 assigned to the second group. For example, a reader may read 30 bits from a first A-IoT device (e.g., device Y_1) in the second group in the first AO 1016, 40 bits from a second A-IoT device (e.g., device Y_2) in the second AO 1018, and 50 bits from a third A-IoT device (e.g., device Y_3) in the second AO 1020.

[0157] Figure 11 Example aspects of a grouping configuration 1100 for grouping A-IoT devices from a large AO pool are described. The grouping configuration 1100 may include grouping the multiple A-IoT devices into appropriate groups based on the amount of data to be communicated by each A-IoT device and / or additional factors.

[0158] exist Figure 11In the example, multiple groups (e.g., A-IoT devices) may be generated and AOs (e.g., for random access procedures, such as the RACH procedure) may be assigned to these groups from a large AO pool 1102. In some embodiments, the large AO pool 1102 may be used by multiple A-IoT devices for one or more A-IoT devices to transmit the first message of the random access procedure (e.g., the MsgA of the random access procedure). For example, the grouping device may transmit a first FL packet 1104 to trigger the start of a round in which the A-IoT devices attempt to establish a connection with the grouping device. Additionally, in some embodiments, the first FL packet 1104 may include an indication of the large AO pool 1102. For example, the grouping device may (e.g., in the first FL packet 1104 or in another message) transmit one or more configurations of one or more AO pools (e.g., in the large AO pool 1102) assigned to the multiple groups. After receiving the first FL packet 1104, one or more A-IoT devices may use the large AO pool 1102 to transmit the first message of the random access procedure to the grouping device.

[0159] Subsequently, after receiving one or more first messages of the random access procedure from the corresponding A-IoT devices, the grouping device may include different group IDs in different FL group public packets to indicate which FL group public packets are intended for which groups. For example, the grouping device may transmit the corresponding group public second message (e.g., group public MsgB) of the random access procedure to each assigned A-IoT device group.

[0160] exist Figure 11 In the example, the grouping device may transmit a first FL group common packet 1106 including a group common second message for the random access procedure of A-IoT devices Z_1 to Z_10. In some embodiments, if no data is ready for communication for one or more A-IoT devices, the grouping device may not configure a grouping ID for those A-IoT devices. For example, the grouping device may determine that there is no data for communication of A-IoT devices Z_1 to Z_10, which may indicate that no resources are needed for further communication of those A-IoT devices, and therefore A-IoT devices Z_1 to Z_10 do not need to be grouped into a group.

[0161] Additionally or alternatively, if the network entity and / or reader determines that one or more A-IoT devices do indeed have data to be communicated, the grouping device may group the one or more A-IoT devices into appropriate groups (e.g., based on the amount of data to be communicated by each of the one or more A-IoT devices, as referenced). Figure 10 (as described), and configure a group ID for the one or more A-IoT devices.

[0162] exist Figure 11 In the example, the grouping device may transmit a second group common FL packet 1108 including a group common second message for a random access procedure for group "X", which includes A-IoT devices X_1 to X_8. In some embodiments, the grouping device may determine that each A-IoT device in group "X" (e.g., A-IoT devices X_1 to X_8) may each have a small amount of data to convey and each require resources for further communication. Therefore, the second group common FL packet 1108 may implicitly or explicitly indicate the mapping of the corresponding AO 1110 to each A-IoT device in group "X" (e.g., as referenced). Figures 7A to 7E (As described) so that each A-IoT device can communicate its small amount of data.

[0163] Additionally or alternatively, the grouping device may transmit a third group common FL packet 1112 including a group common second message for a random access procedure for group "Y", which includes A-IoT devices Y_1 to Y_6. In some embodiments, the grouping device may determine that each A-IoT device in group "Y" (e.g., A-IoT devices Y_1 to Y_6) may each have a large amount of data to convey and each requires resources for further communication. Therefore, the third group common FL packet 1112 may implicitly or explicitly indicate the mapping of the corresponding AO 1114 to each A-IoT device in group "Y" (e.g., as referenced). Figures 7A to 7E (As described) so that each A-IoT device can communicate its vast amount of data.

[0164] In some implementations, in addition to assigning A-IoT devices to groups based on the corresponding amount of data to be communicated by each A-IoT device (e.g., grouping methods based on buffer and / or memory states) or as an alternative, the grouping device may consider other factors and / or corresponding sets of indications from each A-IoT device when assigning groups. That is, the grouping device may assign A-IoT devices to groups based on the corresponding amount of data to be communicated by each A-IoT device, other factors, corresponding sets of indications, or a combination thereof.

[0165] In some implementations, the set of other factors and / or corresponding indications from each A-IoT device may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: path loss between the device and another device to which the data is to be transmitted, distance between the device and another device to which the data is to be transmitted, energy state of the device (e.g., remaining battery power), error rate of the device (e.g., bit error rate (BER), block error rate (BLER) such as for communication with another device to which the data is to be transmitted, number of consecutive failed decodings of a signal (e.g., a signal from another device to which the data is to be transmitted), acknowledgment (ACK) feedback of the device to previous communications (e.g., ACK or negative ACK (NACK)), and channel conditions between the device and another device to which the data is to be transmitted (e.g., Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Received Power (RSRP), Reference Received Quality (RSRQ), etc.).

[0166] Figure 12 Example aspects of a dynamic group management configuration 1200 for grouping A-IoT devices are described. For example, the grouping device can dynamically manage groups of A-IoT devices after groups have been assigned. That is, in (e.g., based on references) Figure 10 and Figure 11 The amount of data to be communicated by the described A-IoT device, as shown in the reference. Figures 7A to 8 As described, when an A-IoT device successfully establishes a connection with a grouping device, based on, as referenced... Figure 11 After the initial groups of A-IoT devices have been configured and / or assigned (other factors and / or indications described herein), the grouping device may (e.g., via multicast messages) indicate which A-IoT devices are no longer included in the group, which devices are to remain in the group, which A-IoT devices are being added to the group, or a combination thereof.

[0167] For example, a grouping device may explicitly indicate that a specific A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_1) is no longer in its assigned group (e.g., group "X"). Additionally or alternatively, network entities and / or readers may implicitly indicate that a specific A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_1) has completed communication, which may result in the specific A-IoT device being removed from the group once communication is complete. In some implementations, network entities and / or readers may (e.g., via multicast messages) explicitly indicate which A-IoT devices should remain in the group. After dynamically adjusting the group (e.g., removing A-IoT devices and / or adding A-IoT devices to the group), the remaining A-IoT devices in the group may automatically adjust their pIDs, which may adjust which AOs are mapped to which A-IoT devices. In some implementations, the dynamic group management configuration 1200 may be suitable for multiple allocation schemes. Additionally, the grouping device may use PHY or MAC signaling to dynamically manage A-IoT device groups.

[0168] exist Figure 12 In the example, the grouping device may transmit a first FL packet (or other message, such as MsgB) 1202 including an indication to an AO subpool 1204 (e.g., for small data communication), which includes three (3) AOs for group “X”. Thus, a first A-IoT device in group “X” (e.g., A-IoT device X_1) may communicate using the first AO, a second A-IoT device in group “X” (e.g., A-IoT device X_2) may communicate using the second AO, and a third A-IoT device in group “X” (e.g., A-IoT device X_3) may communicate using the third AO. For example, the grouping device may read 100 bits from each A-IoT device in group “X”.

[0169] Subsequently, Figure 12In the example, the grouping device may transmit a second FL packet 1206, which includes an instruction for A-IoT devices in group "X" to continue reporting small data and an instruction to remove a third A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_3) from group "X". Additionally or alternatively, the second FL packet 1206 may include an instruction for a first A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_1) and a second A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_2) to remain in group "X". Therefore, the remaining A-IoT devices in group "X" can use AO sub-pool 1208 for small data communication. For example, the first A-IoT device can communicate using the first AO, and the second A-IoT device can communicate using the second AO. Furthermore, based on the removal of the third A-IoT device from group "X", network entities and / or readers can further read an additional 100 bits from the first and second A-IoT devices in group "X".

[0170] Subsequently, Figure 12 In the example, the grouping device may transmit a third FL packet 1210, which includes an instruction for A-IoT devices in group "X" to continue reporting small data and an instruction to remove a second A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_2) from group "X". Additionally or alternatively, the third FL packet 1210 may include an instruction for a first A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_1) to remain in group "X". Therefore, the remaining A-IoT devices in group "X" can use AO sub-pool 1212 for small data communication. For example, the first A-IoT device can use the first AO for communication. Furthermore, based on the fact that the second A-IoT device has also been removed from group "X", network entities and / or readers can further read an additional 100 bits from the first A-IoT device in group "X".

[0171] Figure 13 An example aspect of a subgroup selection configuration 1300 for resource allocation of A-IoT device groups is described. For example, after a group has been assigned, the grouping device can select a subgroup of A-IoT devices within the group for resource allocation. That is, in (e.g., based on reference...) Figure 10 and Figure 11 The amount of data to be communicated by the described A-IoT device, as shown in the reference. Figures 7A to 8 As described, when an A-IoT device successfully establishes a connection with a grouping device, based on, as referenced... Figure 11 After the initial group of A-IoT devices has been configured and / or assigned (other factors and / or indications described herein), the grouping device may select a subgroup of A-IoT devices from the group to allocate resources (e.g., AO) for the A-IoT devices in that subgroup to use for communication.

[0172] In some implementations, the grouping device may transmit an FL packet 1302, which includes an indication of two (2) AOs allocated for communication between two (2) A-IoT devices. Additionally, the FL packet 1302 may include a multicast indication 1304 (e.g., indicating that the FL packet 1302 is a multicast message to multiple A-IoT devices) and a source ID 1306 (e.g., corresponding to the grouping device). In some implementations, the grouping device may indicate a common group ID 1308 (e.g., the group ID of group “X”), and may use bit 1310 to indicate whether the FL packet 1302 is addressed to the entire group (e.g., bit 1310 is “1”) or addressed to a subset of the group (e.g., bit 1310 is “0”). Furthermore, the grouping device may indicate a subgroup size 1312 (e.g., two (2) A-IoT devices in the subgroup) and one or more pIDs 1314 (e.g., pID=1, pID=3) to indicate which A-IoT devices in the group are selected for the subgroup.

[0173] Therefore, A-IoT devices corresponding to one or more pID 1314 can then communicate using the corresponding AO. Figure 13 In the example, an A-IoT device with pID=1 in group "X" can communicate using the first AO 1316, and an A-IoT device with pID=3 in group "X" can communicate using the second AO 1318. In some implementations, the subgroup selection configuration 1300 may be suitable for multiple resource allocations (e.g., where multiple instances of the AO are allocated for communication, such as across multiple time periods). Additionally, unicast may be implemented based on the selection of one (1) A-IoT device in the group by the grouping device. In some implementations, the grouping device may (e.g., in FL group 1302) indicate which A-IoT devices in the group have not been selected for the subgroup. In some implementations, the pID may be a CRI corresponding to each A-IoT device in the group and / or a truncated CRI.

[0174] Figure 14 Example aspects of a resource allocation configuration 1400 for a group of A-IoT devices are described. For example, based on the resource allocation configuration 1400, when a grouping device allocates resources (e.g., the size of each AO) to different A-IoT devices in the group, the grouping device can allocate the same amount of resources to different A-IoT devices.

[0175] In some implementations, for a single resource allocation (e.g., where one instance of an AO is allocated for communication, such as within a time period), the grouping device may allocate resources large enough for the A-IoT device in the group to have the largest buffer state (e.g., the largest amount of data to be communicated). Additionally or alternatively, for multiple resource allocations, network entities and / or readers may repeat group-level resource allocations until all A-IoT devices in the same group have completed communication.

[0176] exist Figure 14 In the example, the grouping device may transmit a first FL packet 1402, for example, including random access messages (e.g., MsgB) for one or more A-IoT devices in the same group. For example, the first FL packet 1402 may include an indication of a group ID corresponding to a group (e.g., group “X”) that includes a first A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_1), a second A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_2), and a third A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X_3). Additionally, the first FL packet 1402 may include an indication of an AO sub-pool 1404 for small data communication of the A-IoT devices in the group, wherein the AO sub-pool 1404 includes corresponding AOs of the same resource size. For example, the first A-IoT device may communicate using the first AO, the second A-IoT device may communicate using the second AO, and the third A-IoT device may communicate using the third AO. In some embodiments, the network entity and / or reader may read 100 bits from each A-IoT device in the group.

[0177] In some implementations, the grouping device may transmit a second FL packet 1406, which includes an instruction for A-IoT devices in the group (e.g., group "X") to continue reporting small data in the AO sub-pool 1404. Thus, a first A-IoT device can communicate using a first AO, and a second A-IoT device can communicate using a second AO. However, a third A-IoT device may have no more data to transmit, resulting in an empty third AO. Therefore, network entities and / or readers can read an additional 100 bits from the first and second A-IoT devices in the group.

[0178] In some implementations, the grouping device may transmit a third FL packet 1408, which includes an instruction for A-IoT devices in the group (e.g., group "X") to continue reporting small data in the AO sub-pool 1404. Thus, the first A-IoT device can communicate using the first AO. However, the second and third A-IoT devices may have no more data to transmit, resulting in the second and third AOs being empty. Therefore, network entities and / or readers can read an additional 100 bits from the first A-IoT device in the group.

[0179] Figure 15 Example aspects of a configuration 1500 for monitoring messages for a group of A-IoT devices are described. In some cases, A-IoT devices can determine the corresponding order of A-IoT devices in a group (e.g., determine the corresponding pID) based on messages during the random access process (e.g., MsgB, Msg2, or Msg4), and this order can be mapped to different resources. However, in some cases, the number of A-IoT devices successfully accessed and / or queried in a round may be large (e.g., 32 A-IoT devices via 32 random access opportunities). Therefore, in order for the last (e.g., the 32nd) A-IoT device to determine its order, that A-IoT device may need to monitor the previous 31 packets, which may be unreliable, such as due to packet dropping.

[0180] exist Figure 15 In the example, AO pool 1502 can be allocated for sending a first random access message (e.g., MsgA, which includes a preamble and CRI for each A-IoT device) from one or more A-IoT devices. For example, 32 A-IoT devices could be able to send the first random access message in AO pool 1502. Subsequently, the marshalling device can respond with a corresponding FL packet including a second random access message (e.g., MsgB) for each A-IoT device that transmitted the first random access message.

[0181] For example, the grouping device can transmit a first FL packet 1504 including a second random access message for a first A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device Y), a second FL packet 1506 including a second random access message for a second A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device Z), and a thirty-second FL packet 1508 including a second random access message for a third A-IoT device (e.g., A-IoT device X). Therefore, each A-IoT device can determine its order (e.g., pID) based on when each FL packet is transmitted. For example, the first A-IoT device can determine its order as 1 (e.g., pID=1), the second A-IoT device can determine its order as 2, and the third A-IoT device can determine its order as 32. However, the third device may need to monitor the first 31 packets; otherwise, its order may be incorrect.

[0182] In some implementations, based on a packet size limit for the second random access message (e.g., a MsgB packet size limit), multiple second random access messages (e.g., multiple group-common second random access messages) can be used as a response to a first random access message sent in AO pool 1502 (e.g., an AO pool of a larger size). Additionally, an upper limit (e.g., N) of message packets that the A-IoT device should monitor can be configured. Thus, if no corresponding second random access message is received before the upper limit is met, the A-IoT device can assume that the random access procedure has failed. For example, if the upper limit is defined and / or configured as three (3), the A-IoT device can monitor up to three (3) message packets of the second random access message. In some implementations, the upper limit N can be a pre-configured value or can be dynamically configured from the marshalling device before the random access procedure is executed (e.g., via broadcast, RRC signaling, etc.).

[0183] Figure 16A , Figure 16B and Figure 16C Various example aspects of resource allocation are described. Figures 5A to 15 The examples and techniques described herein primarily exemplify frequency division multiplexing (FDMed) resources. However, the techniques described herein are not limited to this, and resources allocated to a group of A-IoT devices (e.g., AO) may refer to time division multiplexing (TDMed) resources, FDMed resources, code division multiplexing (CDMed) resources, or any combination thereof.

[0184] For example, Figure 16A Resource allocation 1600 can be described for AO pool 1604, which includes multiple AOs of FDMed (e.g., for A-IoT devices to transmit first random access messages, BL data, or other signals). Additionally or alternatively, Figure 16BResource allocation 1601 can be described for AO pool 1606, which includes multiple AOs of TDMed (e.g., for A-IoT devices to transmit first random access messages, BL data, or other signals). Additionally or alternatively, Figure 16C Resource allocation 1602 can be described for AO pool 1608, which includes multiple AOs multiplexed in the time and frequency domains (e.g., for A-IoT devices to transmit first random access messages, BL data, or other signals). In some embodiments and as shown in... Figures 5A to 15 As described in the example, one (1) A-IoT device is shown as occupying one AO. However, one (1) A-IoT device may occupy multiple AOs.

[0185] Example operation of grouping equipment Figure 17 It shows a device (such as) Figure 1 and Figure 3 BS 102, Regarding Figure 2 The decomposed base station discussed or Figure 1 and Figure 3 Method 1700 for wireless communication of UE 104.

[0186] Method 1700 begins at block 1705, wherein each of a plurality of wireless communication devices receives a corresponding indication of a quantity of data to be communicated, wherein each corresponding indication of a quantity of data to be communicated is among a plurality of indications of a quantity of data to be communicated.

[0187] Method 1700 then proceeds to box 1710, where multiple wireless communication devices are grouped into multiple groups based on multiple indications of the amount of data to be communicated.

[0188] Method 1700 then proceeds to box 1715, where one or more configurations are assigned to one or more access timing pools for communication among multiple groups.

[0189] In some respects, method 1700 also includes, for each of a plurality of wireless communication devices, transmitting a corresponding instruction to the group to which the wireless communication device is assigned in a plurality of groups.

[0190] In some respects, each of the multiple groups is associated with a corresponding range of data to be communicated.

[0191] In some aspects, method 1700 further includes, for each of a plurality of wireless communication devices, receiving a corresponding set of indications from a plurality of indication sets, the corresponding set of indications including one or more indications for one or more of the following: path loss between the device (e.g., an apparatus, another device via which the grouping device communicates, etc.) and the wireless communication device; distance between the device and the wireless communication device; energy state of the wireless communication device; bit error rate of the wireless communication device; block error rate of the wireless communication device; packet error rate of the wireless communication device; number of consecutive failed decodings of a signal by the wireless communication device; acknowledgment of communication; negative acknowledgment of communication; or channel conditions between the device and the wireless communication device. In some aspects, block 1710 includes further grouping the plurality of wireless communication devices into multiple groups based on the plurality of indication sets.

[0192] In some respects, one or more access timing pools comprise a single access timing pool that is allocated to multiple groups for communication.

[0193] In some respects, one or more access timing pools include multiple access timing pools for communication, each of which is assigned to a corresponding group in a plurality of groups.

[0194] In some respects, multiple wireless communication devices include multiple A-IoT devices.

[0195] In some respects, method 1700 also includes: for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group.

[0196] In some respects, method 1700 further includes, for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an indication to one or more wireless communication devices in the first group to avoid communicating in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication.

[0197] In some respects, method 1700 also includes: for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be added to the first group.

[0198] In some respects, method 1700 also includes: for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group.

[0199] In some respects, method 1700 further includes, for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an indication to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access times, the plurality of access times being allocated to the first group for communication.

[0200] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group that is intended to be used for one of the following: included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0201] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier for the first group and a selection criterion for selecting wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0202] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0203] In some aspects, method 1700 further includes receiving, for one or more of a plurality of wireless communication devices, one or more messages conveyed at one or more access times in one or more pools of access times (e.g., directly from the plurality of wireless communication devices or indirectly via another device).

[0204] In some respects, the message may include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

[0205] In some respects, one or more configuration instructions for one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication provide an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of multiple groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0206] In some respects, one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication indicate that the same allocation of access opportunities is made to the first group of multiple groups over multiple time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0207] In some respects, method 1700 also includes: transmitting, for a plurality of wireless communication devices, an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for one or more configurations.

[0208] In some respects, method 1700 or any aspect thereof may be made by means of a device (such as...) Figure 23 Communication equipment 2300 or Figure 24 The communication device 2400 performs the operation, and the device includes various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform the method 1700. The communication devices 2300 and 2400 are described in further detail below.

[0209] It should be noted that Figure 17 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative operations may also be consistent with this disclosure.

[0210] Example operation of the device Figure 18 It shows a device (such as an A-IoT device or) Figure 1 and Figure 3 Method 1800 for wireless communication of UE 104.

[0211] Method 1800 begins at box 1805, wherein (e.g., directly or indirectly to the grouping device via another device) an indication of the amount of communication data to be transmitted.

[0212] Method 1800 then proceeds to block 1810, wherein (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) one or more configurations of one or more pools of one or more access opportunities allocated to multiple groups for communication are received, wherein the multiple groups include a first group that includes the means based on an indication of the amount of data to be communicated.

[0213] Method 1800 then proceeds to box 1815, wherein one or more messages are transmitted (e.g., directly or indirectly via another device to a grouping device, to a reader, to another device, etc.) on one or more access times in a first pool of one or more access time pools, wherein the first pool is associated with a first group.

[0214] In some respects, method 1800 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to the first group to which the device is assigned among a plurality of groups.

[0215] In some respects, each of the multiple groups is associated with a corresponding range of data to be communicated.

[0216] In some aspects, method 1800 further includes (e.g., directly or indirectly to the grouping device via another device) transmitting a set of indications, which includes one or more indications for one or more of the following: path loss between the device and the device (e.g., grouping device, reader, etc.); distance between the devices; energy state of the device; bit error rate of the device; block error rate of the device; packet error rate of the device; number of consecutive failed decodings of a signal by the device; acknowledgment of communication; negative acknowledgment of communication; or channel conditions between the device and the device. In some aspects, each of the plurality of groups is associated with a corresponding set of indications.

[0217] In some respects, one or more access timing pools comprise a single access timing pool allocated to multiple groups for communication.

[0218] In some respects, one or more access timing pools include multiple access timing pools for communication, each of which is assigned to a corresponding group in a plurality of groups.

[0219] In some respects, the device includes A-IoT devices.

[0220] In some respects, method 1800 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to remove a device from the first group.

[0221] In some respects, method 1800 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to avoid communication in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities assigned to the first group for communication.

[0222] In some respects, method 1800 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to be added to the first group.

[0223] In some respects, method 1800 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to remain in the first group.

[0224] In some respects, method 1800 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction for a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group for communicating in one or more instances of multiple access opportunities assigned to the first group for communication.

[0225] In some respects, the indication of a wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of a device in the first group intended for use with respect to either being included in or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0226] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier for the first group and a selection criterion for selecting wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0227] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0228] In some respects, the message may include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

[0229] In some respects, one or more configuration instructions of one or more access opportunity pools provide an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of multiple groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0230] In some respects, one or more configurations of one or more access timing pools indicate that the same allocation of access timings is made to the first group of multiple groups over multiple time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no pending communication data.

[0231] In some respects, method 1800 also includes receiving an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for one or more configurations.

[0232] In some respects, method 1800 or any aspect thereof may be made by means of a device (such as...) Figure 24 The communication device 2400 performs the method, which includes various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform the method 1800. The communication device 2400 is described in further detail below.

[0233] It should be noted that Figure 18 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative operations may also be consistent with this disclosure.

[0234] Example operation of grouping equipment Figure 19 It shows a device (such as) Figure 1 and Figure 3 BS 102, Regarding Figure 2 The decomposed base station discussed or Figure 1 and Figure 3 Method 1900 for wireless communication of UE 104.

[0235] Method 1900 begins at box 1905, in which multiple wireless communication devices are grouped into multiple groups.

[0236] Method 1900 then proceeds to box 1910, where one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools are assigned to multiple groups for communication.

[0237] Method 1900 then proceeds to block 1915, wherein, for the first of a plurality of groups, an indication is transmitted to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access times, the plurality of access times being allocated to the first group for communication.

[0238] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group that is intended to be used for one of the following: included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0239] In some respects, the corresponding identifier includes CRI.

[0240] In some respects, the corresponding identifier includes a truncated CRI.

[0241] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier for the first group and a selection criterion for selecting wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0242] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0243] In some respects, multiple wireless communication devices include multiple A-IoT devices.

[0244] In some respects, method 1900 also includes: for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group.

[0245] In some respects, method 1900 also includes: for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be added to the first group.

[0246] In some respects, method 1900 also includes: for a first of a plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group.

[0247] In some respects, method 1900 further includes receiving, for one or more of a plurality of wireless communication devices, one or more messages conveyed at one or more access times in one or more pools of access times (e.g., directly or indirectly from one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices via another device).

[0248] In some respects, the message may include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

[0249] In some respects, one or more configuration instructions for one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication provide an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of multiple groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0250] In some respects, one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication indicate that the same allocation of access opportunities is made to the first group of multiple groups over multiple time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0251] In some respects, method 1900 also includes: transmitting, for a plurality of wireless communication devices, an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for one or more configurations.

[0252] In some respects, method 1900 or any aspect thereof may be made by means of a device (such as...) Figure 23 Communication equipment 2300 or Figure 24 The communication device 2400 performs the operation, and the device includes various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform the method 1900. The communication devices 2300 and 2400 are described in further detail below.

[0253] It should be noted that Figure 19 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative operations may also be consistent with this disclosure.

[0254] Example operation of the device Figure 20 It shows a device (such as an A-IoT device or) Figure 1 and Figure 3 Method for wireless communication of UE 104 (2000).

[0255] Method 2000 begins at block 2005, wherein one or more configurations are received for one or more access timing pools assigned to multiple groups for communication, wherein the multiple groups include a first group, the first group including the device.

[0256] Method 2000 then proceeds to block 2010, wherein (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) an instruction is received for a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication, the subgroup including the device.

[0257] Then, method 2000 proceeds to box 2015, in which one or more messages are transmitted in at least one instance of one or more instances of multiple access times.

[0258] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group that is intended to be used for one of the following: included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0259] In some respects, the corresponding identifier includes CRI.

[0260] In some respects, the corresponding identifier includes a truncated CRI.

[0261] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier for the first group and a selection criterion for selecting wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0262] In some respects, the indication of a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0263] In some respects, the device includes A-IoT devices.

[0264] In some respects, method 2000 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to be removed from the first group.

[0265] In some respects, method 2000 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to be added to the first group.

[0266] In some respects, method 2000 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an instruction to remain in the first group.

[0267] In some respects, the message may include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

[0268] In some respects, one or more configuration instructions for one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication provide an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of multiple groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0269] In some respects, one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication indicate that the same allocation of access opportunities is made to the first group of multiple groups over multiple time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0270] In some respects, method 2000 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for one or more configurations.

[0271] In some respects, method 2000 or any aspect thereof may be made possible by means of a device (such as...) Figure 24 The communication device 2400 performs the operation, and the device includes various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform the method 2000. The communication device 2400 is described in further detail below.

[0272] It should be noted that Figure 20 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative operations may also be consistent with this disclosure.

[0273] Example operation of grouping equipment Figure 21 It shows a device (such as) Figure 1 and Figure 3 BS 102, Regarding Figure 2 The decomposed base station discussed or Figure 1 and Figure 3 Method 2100 for wireless communication of UE 104.

[0274] Method 2100 begins at block 2105, wherein multiple wireless communication devices are grouped into multiple groups.

[0275] Method 2100 then proceeds to box 2110, where one or more configurations are assigned to one or more access timing pools for communication among multiple groups.

[0276] Method 2100 then proceeds to box 2115, wherein, for the first of a plurality of groups, an instruction is transmitted for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for one of the following operations: being added to the first group, being removed from the first group, or remaining in the first group.

[0277] In some respects, instructions for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group include instructions for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group.

[0278] In some respects, instructions for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group include instructions for one or more wireless communication devices to be added to the first group.

[0279] In some respects, instructions for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group include instructions for one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group.

[0280] In some respects, multiple wireless communication devices include multiple A-IoT devices.

[0281] In some aspects, method 2100 further includes receiving, for one or more of a plurality of wireless communication devices (e.g., directly or indirectly from another device from one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices), one or more messages conveyed on one or more access times in one or more pools of access times.

[0282] In some respects, the message may include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

[0283] In some respects, one or more configuration instructions for one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication provide an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of multiple groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0284] In some respects, one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication indicate that the same allocation of access opportunities is made to the first group of multiple groups over multiple time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0285] In some respects, method 2100 also includes transmitting, for a plurality of wireless communication devices (e.g., directly or indirectly from another device to one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices), an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for one or more configurations.

[0286] In some respects, method 2100 or any aspect thereof may be made by means of a device (such as...) Figure 23 Communication equipment 2300 or Figure 24 The communication device 2400 performs the operation, and the device includes various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform the method 2100. The communication devices 2300 and 2400 are described in further detail below.

[0287] It should be noted that Figure 21 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative operations may also be consistent with this disclosure.

[0288] Example operation of the device Figure 22 It shows a device (such as an A-IoT device or) Figure 1 and Figure 3 Method 2200 for wireless communication of UE 104.

[0289] Method 2200 begins at block 2205, wherein (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) one or more configurations are received from one or more access opportunity pools assigned to multiple groups for communication.

[0290] Method 2200 then proceeds to box 2210, where (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) an instruction is received for one of the following operations: being added to the first group of a plurality of groups, being removed from the first group of a plurality of groups, or remaining in the first group of a plurality of groups.

[0291] Method 2200 then proceeds to box 2215, wherein one or more messages are transmitted (e.g., directly or indirectly via another device to a marshalling device, to a reader, to another device, etc.) on one or more access times in one or more access time pools.

[0292] In some respects, instructions for an operation to be added to, removed from, or retained in the first group include instructions for removal from the first group.

[0293] In some respects, instructions for an operation to be added to, removed from, or retained in the first group include instructions for being added to the first group.

[0294] In some respects, instructions for an operation to be added to, removed from, or retained in the first group include instructions for retaining in the first group.

[0295] In some respects, the device includes A-IoT devices.

[0296] In some respects, the message may include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

[0297] In some respects, one or more configuration instructions for one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication provide an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of multiple groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0298] In some respects, one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to multiple groups for communication indicate that the same allocation of access opportunities is made to the first group of multiple groups over multiple time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0299] In some respects, method 2200 also includes (e.g., directly or indirectly from the grouping device via another device) receiving an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for one or more configurations.

[0300] In some respects, method 2200 or any aspect thereof may be made possible by means of a device (such as...) Figure 24 The communication device 2400 performs the operation, and the device includes various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform the method 2200. The communication device 2400 is described in further detail below.

[0301] It should be noted that Figure 22 This is merely one example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative operations may also be consistent with this disclosure.

[0302] Example communication device Figure 23 Various aspects of the example communication device 2300 are described. In some aspects, the communication device 2300 is a network entity, such as... Figure 1 and Figure 3 BS 102 or as about Figure 2 The decomposed base station under discussion.

[0303] Communication device 2300 includes a processing system 2305 coupled to a transceiver 2355 (e.g., a transmitter and / or receiver) and / or a network interface 2365. Transceiver 2355 is configured to transmit and receive signals for communication device 2300 via antenna 2360, such as various signals as described herein. Network interface 2365 is configured to transmit via a communication link (such as those described herein, etc.). Figure 2 The described backhaul link, midhaul link, and / or fronthaul link receive and transmit signals for communication device 2300. Processing system 2305 can be configured to perform processing functions for communication device 2300, including processing signals received by and / or to be transmitted by communication device 2300.

[0304] Processing system 2305 includes one or more processors 2310. In various aspects, the one or more processors 2310 may represent one or more of a receive processor 338, a transmit processor 320, a TX MIMO processor 330, and / or a controller / processor 340, as per [reference to...]. Figure 3As described. One or more processors 2310 are coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 2330 via a bus 2350. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 2330 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 2310, enable the one or more processors 2310 to execute and cause the one or more processors to perform: regarding Figure 17 The described method 1700 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 17 Any operation described; regarding Figure 19 The described method 1900 or any aspect thereof, including those concerning Figure 19 Any operation described; and regarding Figure 21 The described method 2100 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 21 Any operation described. Note that references to the processor of the communication device 2300 performing the function may include one or more processors of the communication device 2300, such as performing the function in a distributed manner.

[0305] In the depicted example, computer-readable medium / memory 2330 stores code 2335 for receiving, code 2340 for grouping, and code 2345 for transmitting. Processing of codes 2335 to 2345 enables communication device 2300 to execute and perform the following: regarding Figure 17 The method described in 1700 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 19 The described method 1900 or any aspect thereof; and / or relative to Figure 21 The described method 2100 or any aspect related to that method.

[0306] One or more processors 2310 include circuitry configured to implement (e.g., execute) code stored in computer-readable medium / memory 2330, including circuitry 2315 for receiving, circuitry 2320 for grouping, and circuitry 2325 for transmitting. Processing using circuitry 2315 to 2325 enables communication device 2300 to perform and allow the communication device to execute: regarding Figure 17 The method described in 1700 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 19 The described method 1900 or any aspect thereof; and / or relative to Figure 21 The described method 2100 or any aspect related to that method.

[0307] More generally, components used for communication, sending, transmitting, or outputting for transmission may include Figure 3The BS102 illustrated includes transceiver 332, antenna 334, transmit processor 320, TX MIMO processor 330, AI processor 318, and / or controller / processor 340. Figure 23 The transceiver 2355, antenna 2360, and / or network interface 2365 of the communication device 2300 in the middle. Figure 23 One or more processors 2310 of the communication device 2300. Components for communicating, receiving, or acquiring may include... Figure 3 The transceiver 332, antenna 334, receiver processor 338, AI processor 318, and / or controller / processor 340 of the BS 102 illustrated herein are shown in the diagram. Figure 23 The transceiver 2355, antenna 2360, and / or network interface 2365 of the communication device 2300 in the middle. Figure 23 One or more processors 2310 of the communication device 2300 in the middle.

[0308] Figure 24 Various aspects of the example communication device 2400 are described. In some aspects, the communication device 2400 is user equipment, such as those described above. Figure 1 and Figure 3 The UE 104 described.

[0309] Communication device 2400 includes a processing system 2405 coupled to a transceiver 2445 (e.g., a transmitter and / or receiver). The transceiver 2445 is configured to transmit and receive signals for communication device 2400 via antenna 2450, such as the various signals described herein. The processing system 2405 may be configured to perform processing functions for communication device 2400, including processing signals received by and / or to be transmitted by communication device 2400.

[0310] Processing system 2405 includes one or more processors 2410. In various aspects, the one or more processors 2410 may represent one or more of a receive processor 358, a transmit processor 364, a TX MIMO processor 366, and / or a controller / processor 380, as per [reference to...]. Figure 3 As described. One or more processors 2410 are coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 2425 via a bus 2440. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 2425 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 2410, enable the one or more processors 2410 to execute and cause the one or more processors to perform: regarding Figure 18 The described method 1800 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 18 Any operation described; regarding Figure 20The described method 2000 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 20 Any operation described; regarding Figure 22 The described method 2200 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 22 Any operation described; regarding Figure 17 The described method 1700 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 17 Any operation described; regarding Figure 19 The described method 1900 or any aspect thereof, including those concerning Figure 19 Any operation described; and regarding Figure 21 The described method 2100 or any aspect thereof, including regarding Figure 21 Any operation described. Note that references to processors performing the functions of communication device 2400 may include one or more processors, such as performing the functions of communication device 2400 in a distributed manner.

[0311] In the depicted example, computer-readable medium / memory 2425 stores code 2430 for transmission, code 2435 for reception, and code 1445 for grouping. Processing of codes 2430 and 2435 enables communication device 2400 to perform and allow the communication device to perform actions related to... Figure 18 The method described in 1800 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 20 The method described in 2000 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 22 The described method 2200 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 17 The method described in 1700 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 19 The described method 1900 or any aspect thereof; and / or relative to Figure 21 The described method 2100 or any aspect related to that method.

[0312] One or more processors 2410 include circuitry configured to implement (e.g., execute) code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 2425, the circuitry including circuitry 2415 for transmission, circuitry 2420 for reception, and circuitry 2425 for grouping. Processing with circuitry 2415 and 2420 enables communication device 2400 to perform and allow the communication device to perform actions related to... Figure 18 The method described in 1800 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 20 The method described in 2000 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 22 The described method 2200 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 17The method described in 1700 or any aspect thereof; regarding Figure 19 The described method 1900 or any aspect thereof; and / or relative to Figure 21 The described method 2100 or any aspect related to that method.

[0313] More generally, components used for communication, sending, transmitting, or outputting for transmission may include Figure 3 The UE104 illustrated includes a transceiver 354, an antenna 352, a transmit processor 364, a TX MIMO processor 366, an AI processor 370, and / or a controller / processor 380. Figure 24 The transceiver 2445 and / or antenna 2450 of the communication device 2400 in the middle. Figure 24 One or more processors 2410 of the communication device 2400. Components for communicating, receiving, or acquiring may include... Figure 3 The UE 104 illustrated includes a transceiver 354, an antenna 352, a receiver processor 358, an AI processor 370, and / or a controller / processor 380. Figure 24 The transceiver 2445 and / or antenna 2450 of the communication device 2400 in the middle. Figure 24 One or more processors 2410 of the communication device 2400 in the middle.

[0314] Example Terms Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1: A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: receiving, for each of a plurality of wireless communication devices, a corresponding indication of a quantity of data to be communicated, wherein each corresponding indication of the quantity of data to be communicated is among a plurality of indications of the quantity of data to be communicated; grouping the plurality of wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups based on the plurality of indications of the quantity of data to be communicated; and transmitting one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication.

[0315] Clause 2: The method according to Clause 1 further includes: for each of the plurality of wireless communication devices, transmitting a corresponding instruction to the group to which the wireless communication device in the plurality of groups is assigned.

[0316] Clause 3: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 2, wherein each of the plurality of groups is associated with a corresponding range of data to be communicated.

[0317] Clause 4: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, further comprising: for each of the plurality of wireless communication devices, receiving a corresponding set of indications from a plurality of indication sets, the corresponding set of indications including one or more indications of: path loss between the device and the wireless communication device; distance between the device and the wireless communication device; energy state of the wireless communication device; bit error rate of the wireless communication device; block error rate of the wireless communication device; packet error rate of the wireless communication device; number of consecutive failed decodings of a signal by the wireless communication device; acknowledgment of communication; negative acknowledgment of communication; or channel conditions between the device and the wireless communication device; and wherein grouping the plurality of wireless communication devices into the plurality of groups comprises: further grouping the plurality of wireless communication devices into the plurality of groups based on the plurality of indication sets.

[0318] Clause 5: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 4, wherein the one or more access timing pools include a single access timing pool allocated to the plurality of groups for communication.

[0319] Clause 6: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 5, wherein the one or more access timing pools include a plurality of access timing pools for communication, each of the plurality of access timing pools being assigned to a corresponding group among the plurality of groups.

[0320] Clause 7: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 6, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices includes a plurality of A-IoT devices.

[0321] Clause 8: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7 further comprises: transmitting an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group of the plurality of groups.

[0322] Clause 9: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 8, the method further comprising: transmitting, for a first of the plurality of groups, an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices in the first group to avoid communication in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication.

[0323] Clause 10: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9 further comprises: transmitting an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be added to a first group of the plurality of groups.

[0324] Clause 11: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 10, the method further comprising: transmitting an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group of the plurality of groups.

[0325] Clause 12: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 11, the method further comprising: transmitting, for a first group of the plurality of groups, an instruction to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access times, the plurality of access times being allocated to the first group for communication.

[0326] Clause 13: The method according to Clause 12, wherein the indication to the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group to be used for one of the following: included or not included in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0327] Clause 14: The method according to Clause 12, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a selection criterion for selecting the wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0328] Clause 15: The method according to Clause 14, wherein the indication to the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0329] Clause 16: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 15, the method further comprising: receiving, for one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices, one or more messages conveyed on one or more access times in one or more access time pools.

[0330] Clause 17: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 16, wherein the one or more configuration instructions of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in a first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0331] Clause 18: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 17, wherein the one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate that the first group of the plurality of groups is allocated access opportunities in the same manner over a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0332] Clause 19: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 18, the method further comprising: transmitting, for the plurality of wireless communication devices, an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

[0333] Clause 20: A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: transmitting an indication of a amount of data to be communicated; receiving one or more configurations of one or more pools of one or more access opportunities allocated to a plurality of groups for communication, wherein the plurality of groups includes a first group, the first group including the device based on the indication of the amount of data to be communicated; and transmitting one or more messages on one or more access opportunities of a first pool in the one or more access opportunity pools, wherein the first pool is associated with the first group.

[0334] Clause 21: The method according to Clause 20 further includes: receiving an instruction to the first group to which the device in the plurality of groups is assigned.

[0335] Clause 22: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 21, wherein each of the plurality of groups is associated with a corresponding range of data to be communicated.

[0336] Clause 23: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 22 further includes a transmission indication set, the indication set including one or more indications to one or more of the following: path loss between the device and the equipment; distance between the device and the equipment; energy state of the device; bit error rate of the device; block error rate of the device; packet error rate of the device; number of consecutive failed decodings of a signal by the device; acknowledgment of communication; negative acknowledgment of communication; or channel conditions between the device and the equipment; and wherein each of the plurality of groups is associated with a corresponding indication set.

[0337] Clause 24: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 23, wherein the one or more access timing pools include a single access timing pool that is allocated to a plurality of groups for communication.

[0338] Clause 25: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 24, wherein the one or more access timing pools include a plurality of access timing pools for communication, each of the plurality of access timing pools being assigned to a corresponding group among the plurality of groups.

[0339] Clause 26: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 25, wherein the apparatus includes an A-IoT device.

[0340] Clause 27: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 26, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction to remove the device from the first group.

[0341] Clause 28: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 27, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction to avoid communication in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities assigned to the first set for communication.

[0342] Clause 29: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 28, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction to be added to the first group.

[0343] Clause 30: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 29, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction retained in the first group.

[0344] Clause 31: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 30, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group for communicating in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities assigned to the first group for communication.

[0345] Clause 32: The method according to Clause 31, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of the device in the first group intended for use in one of the following: included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0346] Clause 33: The method according to Clause 31, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a selection criterion for selecting the wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0347] Clause 34: The method according to Clause 33, wherein the indication to the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0348] Clause 35: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 34, wherein the one or more messages include one or more of data, feedback information or command responses.

[0349] Clause 36: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 35, wherein the one or more configurations of the one or more access opportunity pools indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in the first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of pending data among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0350] Clause 37: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 36, wherein the one or more configurations of the one or more access timing pools indicate the same allocation of access timings to the first group of the plurality of groups over a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no pending communication data.

[0351] Clause 38: The method according to any one of Clauses 20 to 37, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

[0352] Clause 39: A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: grouping a plurality of wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups; transmitting one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication; and, for a first group of the plurality of groups, transmitting an instruction to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication.

[0353] Clause 40: The method according to Clause 39, wherein the indication of the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group to be used for one of the following: included or not included in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0354] Clause 41: The method according to Clause 40, wherein the corresponding identifier includes CRI.

[0355] Clause 42: The method described in Clause 40, wherein the corresponding identifier includes a truncated CRI.

[0356] Clause 43: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 42, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a selection criterion for selecting the wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0357] Clause 44: The method according to Clause 43, wherein the indication to the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0358] Clause 45: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 44, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices includes a plurality of A-IoT devices.

[0359] Clause 46: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 45, the method further comprising: transmitting an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group of the plurality of groups.

[0360] Clause 47: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 46, the method further comprising: transmitting, for the first group of the plurality of groups, an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be added to the first group.

[0361] Clause 48: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 47, the method further comprising: transmitting an instruction to one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group of the plurality of groups.

[0362] Clause 49: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 48 further comprises: receiving, for one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices, one or more messages conveyed on one or more access times in one or more access time pools.

[0363] Clause 50: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 49, wherein the one or more configuration instructions allocated to one or more access opportunity pools for communication of the plurality of groups indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in the first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0364] Clause 51: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 50, wherein the one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate that the first group of the plurality of groups is allocated access opportunities in the same manner for a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0365] Clause 52: The method according to any one of Clauses 39 to 51, the method further comprising: transmitting, for the plurality of wireless communication devices, an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

[0366] Clause 53: A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: receiving one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to a plurality of groups for communication, wherein the plurality of groups includes a first group, the first group including the device; receiving an instruction for a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group of the plurality of groups to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication, the subgroup including the device; and transmitting one or more messages in at least one instance of the one or more instances of the plurality of access opportunities.

[0367] Clause 54: The method according to Clause 53, wherein the indication to the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group to be used for one of the following: included or not included in the subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0368] Clause 55: The method described in Clause 54, wherein the corresponding identifier includes CRI.

[0369] Clause 56: The method described in Clause 54, wherein the corresponding identifier includes a truncated CRI.

[0370] Clause 57: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 56, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a selection criterion for selecting the wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0371] Clause 58: The method according to Clause 57, wherein the indication to the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

[0372] Clause 59: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 58, wherein the apparatus includes an A-IoT device.

[0373] Clause 60: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 59, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction for removal from the first group.

[0374] Clause 61: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 60, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction to be added to the first group.

[0375] Clause 62: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 61, the method further comprising: receiving an instruction retained in the first set.

[0376] Clause 63: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 62, wherein the one or more messages include one or more of data, feedback information or command responses.

[0377] Clause 64: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 63, wherein the one or more configuration instructions allocated to one or more access opportunity pools for communication of the plurality of groups indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in the first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0378] Clause 65: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 64, wherein the one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate that the first group of the plurality of groups is allocated access opportunities in the same manner over a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0379] Clause 66: The method according to any one of Clauses 53 to 65, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

[0380] Clause 67: A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: grouping a plurality of wireless communication devices into a plurality of groups; transmitting one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication; and, for a first group of the plurality of groups, transmitting an indication for one or more wireless communication devices to be operated in one of the following ways: being added to the first group, being removed from the first group, or remaining in the first group.

[0381] Clause 68: The method according to Clause 67, wherein the instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group includes an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group.

[0382] Clause 69: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 68, wherein the instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group includes an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be added to the first group.

[0383] Clause 70: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 69, wherein the instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be used for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group includes an instruction for one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group.

[0384] Clause 71: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 70, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices includes a plurality of A-IoT devices.

[0385] Clause 72: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 71, the method further comprising: receiving, for one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices, one or more messages conveyed on one or more access times in one or more access time pools.

[0386] Clause 73: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 72, wherein the one or more configuration instructions allocated to one or more access opportunity pools for communication of the plurality of groups indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in the first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0387] Clause 74: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 73, wherein the one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate that the first group of the plurality of groups is allocated access opportunities in the same manner for a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0388] Clause 75: The method according to any one of Clauses 67 to 74, the method further comprising: transmitting, for the plurality of wireless communication devices, an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

[0389] Clause 76: A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: receiving one or more configurations of one or more access timing pools allocated to a plurality of groups for communication; receiving an instruction to perform one of the following operations: being added to a first group of the plurality of groups, being removed from or remaining in the first group of the plurality of groups; and transmitting one or more messages on one or more access timings in the one or more access timing pools.

[0390] Clause 77: The method according to Clause 76, wherein the instruction for an operation of being added to the first group, being removed from the first group, or remaining in the first group includes an instruction for being removed from the first group.

[0391] Clause 78: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 77, wherein the instruction for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group includes an instruction for being added to the first group.

[0392] Clause 79: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 78, wherein the instruction for an operation of being added to, removed from, or retained in the first group includes an instruction for being retained in the first group.

[0393] Clause 80: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 79, wherein the apparatus includes an A-IoT device.

[0394] Clause 81: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 80, wherein the one or more messages include one or more of data, feedback information or command responses.

[0395] Clause 82: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 81, wherein the one or more configuration instructions allocated to one or more access opportunity pools for communication of the plurality of groups indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities to each wireless communication device in the first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

[0396] Clause 83: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 82, wherein the one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate that the first group of the plurality of groups is allocated access opportunities in the same manner for a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

[0397] Clause 84: The method according to any one of Clauses 76 to 83, the method further comprising: receiving an indication of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

[0398] Clause 85: One or more apparatuses, the apparatuses comprising: one or more memories including executable instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions and cause the one or more apparatuses to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 84.

[0399] Clause 86: One or more means comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories and configured to cause the one or more means to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 84.

[0400] Clause 87: One or more apparatuses, the apparatuses comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being coupled to the one or more memories and configured to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 84.

[0401] Clause 88: One or more apparatuses, said apparatus including components for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 84.

[0402] Clause 89: One or more non-transitory computer-readable media, the non-transitory computer-readable media comprising executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of one or more devices, cause the one or more devices to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 84.

[0403] Clause 90: One or more computer program products embodied on one or more computer-readable storage media, said computer-readable storage media including code for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 84.

[0404] Additional Notes The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or aspects set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. For example, the function and arrangement of the elements discussed may be changed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various processes or components may be omitted, substituted, or added as appropriate in the various examples. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than described, and various actions may be added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement an apparatus or practice. Moreover, the scope of this disclosure is intended to cover such apparatuses or methods practiced using other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities that complement or replace the various aspects of this disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0405] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, AI processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic unit, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. While the general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, in alternative embodiments, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working in conjunction with a DSP core, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0406] As used in this article, the phrase “at least one of” in a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. For example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0407] As used herein, the term "determine" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculation, operation, processing, deduction, investigation, lookup (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), assertion, etc. Additionally, "determine" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), etc. Furthermore, "determine" can include parsing, selecting, picking, building, etc.

[0408] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, “coupled to” and “coupled with” generally encompass both direct and indirect coupling (e.g., including intermediate aspects of coupling). For example, stating that a processor is coupled to memory allows for direct coupling or coupling via an intermediate aspect such as a bus.

[0409] The methods disclosed herein include one or more actions for implementing the methods. These actions may be interchanged without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of actions is specified, the order and / or use of a particular action may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding function. This component may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors.

[0410] The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. References to singular elements are not intended to mean “only one” (unless specifically stated as “only one”), but rather “one or more”. Unless otherwise specified, definite articles (e.g., “the” or “described”) subsequently used with an element (e.g., “processor”) are not intended to give that element a singular meaning (e.g., “only one”). For example, unless otherwise specified, references to elements (e.g., “processor”, “controller”, “memory”, “transceiver”, “antenna”, “the processor”, “the controller”, “the memory”, “the transceiver”, “the antenna”, etc.) should be understood to refer to one or more elements (e.g., “one or more processors”, “one or more controllers”, “one or more memories”, “a plurality of transceivers”, etc.). The terms “set” and “group” are intended to include one or more elements and may be used interchangeably with “one or more”. In the case of references to one or more elements performing a function (e.g., steps of a method), one element may perform all the functions, or more than one element may collectively perform those functions. When more than one element performs these functions together, each function does not need to be performed by every single element (e.g., different functions can be performed by different elements), and / or each function does not need to be performed by only one element as a whole (e.g., different elements can perform different sub-functions of a function). Similarly, when referring to one or more elements configured to cause another element (e.g., a device) to perform a function, one element may be configured to cause another element to perform all functions, or more than one element may be jointly configured to cause another element to perform these functions. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. All structural and functional equivalents of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are currently or hereafter known to those skilled in the art are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be offered to the public, whether or not such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: One or more memories, the one or more memories including processor-executable instructions; and One or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the device to: Organize multiple wireless communication devices into multiple groups; Transmission is assigned to one or more access opportunity pools for communication among the plurality of groups; as well as For the first of the plurality of groups, an instruction is transmitted to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group that is to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being assigned to the first group for communication.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group for use in one of the following: included or not included in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the corresponding identifier includes a contention resolution identifier (CRI).

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the corresponding identifier includes a truncated race-resolver identifier (CRI).

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a selection criterion for selecting the wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices comprises a plurality of environmental Internet of Things (A-IoT) devices.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: For the first group of the plurality of groups, an instruction is transmitted for one or more wireless communication devices to be removed from the first group.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: For the first group of the plurality of groups, an instruction is transmitted for one or more wireless communication devices to be added to the first group.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: For the first group of the plurality of groups, an instruction is transmitted for one or more wireless communication devices to be retained in the first group.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: For one or more of the plurality of wireless communication devices, receive one or more messages transmitted at one or more access times in one or more access time pools.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more messages include one or more of data, feedback information, or command responses.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more configuration instructions allocated to one or more access opportunity pools for communication in the plurality of groups indicate an equal allocation of access opportunities for each wireless communication device in the first group of the plurality of groups, wherein the equal allocation is based on the maximum amount of data to be communicated among the wireless communication devices in the first group.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more configurations of one or more access opportunity pools allocated to the plurality of groups for communication indicate that the first group of the plurality of groups is allocated access opportunities in the same manner over a plurality of time periods until all wireless communication devices in the first group have no data to communicate.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to: For the plurality of wireless communication devices, an indication is transmitted of the number of messages to be monitored for the one or more configurations.

16. A method for wireless communication by a device, the method comprising: Organize multiple wireless communication devices into multiple groups; Transmission is assigned to one or more access opportunity pools for communication among the plurality of groups; as well as For the first of the plurality of groups, an instruction is transmitted to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group that is to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being assigned to the first group for communication.

17. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: One or more memories, the one or more memories including processor-executable instructions; and One or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to execute processor-executable instructions and cause the device to: Receive one or more configurations assigned to one or more access opportunity pools for communication in multiple groups, wherein the multiple groups include a first group, and the first group includes the device; Receive an instruction to a subgroup of wireless communication devices in the first group to communicate in one or more instances of a plurality of access opportunities, the plurality of access opportunities being allocated to the first group for communication, the subgroup including the devices; as well as One or more messages are transmitted in at least one of the one or more instances of the plurality of access times.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a corresponding identifier of each wireless communication device in the first group for use in one of the following: included or not included in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes a first group identifier of the first group and a selection criterion for selecting the wireless communication devices in the first group as either included or excluded from the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the indication of the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group includes an indication of the number of wireless communication devices in the wireless communication device subgroup in the first group.

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