Minimizing inter-cell interference integrated with tsn for improved wireless deterministic communication

Abstract

Systems, methods, techniques, and other embodiments are disclosed with regard to an apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism. The apparatus comprises a processor configured to determine one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices; and provide the one or more TSN parameters to at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that a multiple-antennas configuration is determined based on the one or more TSN parameters.

Description

Minimizing Inter-Cell Interference Integrated with TSN for Improved Wireless Deterministic CommunicationTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present description relates generally to integration of a communication system and a time-sensitive network (TSN), and, more particularly, for example, to multiple-antennas configuration in communication system integrated with TSN techniques.BACKGROUND

[0002] Some applications such as industrial automation and manufacturing require ubiquitous and seamless connectivity with strict, deterministic timing requirements for communications between various devices or components (e g., an industrial controller, a sensor, an actuator, etc.) of the application. To meet such requirements, a TSN system, which provides deterministic communication with relatively stringent quality of service (QoS) parameters, such as latency, jitter and reliability requirements for data traffic, may be integrated with a communication network (such a wireless network or a network compatible with a 3 GPP standard, such as a 5G network), which provides a high reliability service, such as an ultrareliable low latency communication (URLLC) service. However, factories have challenging RF environments, with blockage and reflections by fast moving metal objects such as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), cranes and conveyor belts. Blockage can cause sudden drop in signal strength, while reflections can lead to rapidly varying interference from far-away cells. These challenges could be addressed by Coordinated multiple points (CoMP). CoMP combines multiple antennas from multiple small cells to create more spatial dimensions. Additional spatial dimensions allow simultaneous transmission to multiple users in the same geographical area while minimizing inter- cell interference.SUMMARY

[0003] The techniques, systems and processes described herein relate to an apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism. The apparatus comprises a processor configured to determine one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network pointsconfigured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices and provide the one or more TSN parameters to at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that a multiple-antennas configuration is determined based on the one or more TSN parameters. In some implementations, the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3 GPP standard. In some implementations, the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) functionality. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset. In some implementations, the information related to multiple-antennas functionality includes information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points and the one or more user devices.

[0004] In one aspect, an apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism comprises a processor configured to receive one or more TSN parameters that are determined based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices and determine a multiple-antennas configuration for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as one or more TSN blocks in a TSN network to operate multipleantennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration. In some implementations, the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3GPP standard, wherein the apparatus resides in at least one of a core network of the wireless network and a radio access network (RAN) including the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points. In some implementations, the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multipoint (CoMP)functionality. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset. In some implementations, the information related to multiple-antennas functionality includes information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points and the one or more user devices.

[0005] In another aspect, a method for minimizing inter-cell interference based on a timesensitive network (TSN) mechanism comprises determining one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices, providing the one or more TSN parameters for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points and determining a multiple-antennas configuration for at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points based on the one or more TSN parameters such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as one or more TSN blocks in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration. In some implementations, the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3 GPP standard. In some implementations, the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) functionality. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset. In some implementations, the information related to multiple-antennas functionality includes information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points and the one or more user devices.

[0006] In another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for receiving one or more TSN parameters that are determined based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to providethe multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices and determining a multiple-antennas configuration for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as one or more TSN blocks in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multipleantenna configuration.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purpose of explanation, several aspects of the subject technology are set forth in the following figures.

[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates four different CoMP scenarios in 3GPP standardization.

[0009] FIG. 2 shows an example of CoMP cooperating set and CoMP measurement set.

[0010] FIG. 3 provides an overview of CoMP schemes in the downlink and uplink.

[0011] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of MIMO-like behavior of multiple distributed cell towers.

[0012] FIG. 5 illustrates examples of CoMP transmission and reception.

[0013] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a CoMP transmission and reception.

[0014] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of Coordinated Scheduling / Coordinated Beamforming (CS / CB) of downlink CoMP.

[0015] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of joint processing for downlink CoMP.

[0016] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system100 in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0017] FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example integrated TSN-wireless communication system 200 architecture in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0018] FIG. 11 illustrates corresponding elements of the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 100 and the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 200 in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0019] FIG.12 illustrates a block diagram of an example TSN block in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0020] FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0021] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of TSN scheduling.

[0022] FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology can be practiced. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology.However, the subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and can be practiced using one or more other implementations. In one or more implementations, structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology.

[0024] In a wireless communication system (e.g., LTE, 5G, 5G+, 6G, etc.), an inter-cell cooperation technology is used to reduce the inter-cell interference. The inter-cell cooperation technology includes a Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technology specifically aiming to enhance throughputs of UEs at cell edge. The CoMP mitigates inter-cell interference and increases throughputs of a UE at cell edge by allowing not only the UE's serving cell, but also other cell(s) to communicate with the UE, through cooperation with one another. Traditionally, a UE accesses only one cell (serving cell) for communication. However, the CoMP-enabled UE can communicate with more than one cell located in different points, and this group of cells works as a virtual MIMO system. Thus, in CoMP transmission, the UE may be able to receive downlink signal from multiple geographically separated antennas (referred to as points). Points may be located on the same base station or on different base stations. Points may be connected to a base station but be in a different physical location than the base station. Furthermore, uplink transmission by the UE may be received by the multiple points. Sector of the same site may correspond to different points. Each point may be controlled by eNB. There may be one or more multiple eNBs. One of the eNBs may be referred to as the serving eNB. The serving eNB may perform most of the processing, such as baseband processing and scheduling. Because some of the antennas might be collocated at an eNB, the eNB may also be a point. The serving eNB may control one or multiple cells. One cell may be designated as the serving cell. The designation of acell as the serving cell may dynamically change over time. One or more points may be used for transmission or reception in each cell.

[0025] Cells that are in charge of directly or indirectly transmitting data to UE may be called "CoMP cooperating cells” (or "CoMP cooperating set" in 3GPP terms), and specifically those actually responsible for transmitting data to UE are call ed "CoMP transmission cell(s )" (or "CoMP transmission points" in 3GPP term ). The CoMP is an inter-cell cooperation technology that enables more than one transmission cell to communicate with the UE to achieve better throughputs at cell edge areas by reducing inter-cell interference. The CoMP cooperating cells share channel information of a UE., and based on the information, transmission cell(s) are decided. The CoMP may be a type of Cooperative MIMO, in which data and channel state information (CSI) are shared among neighbor base stations to coordinate their transmissions. Moreover, “TM” is an abbreviated form of Transmission Mode and various aspects of MIMO including Open and Closed loop spatial multiplexing, beamforming, MU MIMO and multilayer transmission are discussed through TM1 to TM9. TR 37.976, TS 38.151 on radiated performance for MIMO and “NR and UE MIMO performance requirements” provide more information on current standardization.

[0026] FIG. 1 illustrates the high-level concept of Coordinated multipoint operation.

[0027] Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) operation, an enhancement that was initially discussed in the 3GPP Release 10 time frame. The CoMP is one of the most important technical improvements with respect to heterogeneous network (HetNet) deployment strategies, but also for the traditional homogeneous network topology. The HetNets aim to improve spectral efficiency per unit area using a mixture of macrocell, picocell and femtocell base stations and / or remote radio heads (RRH). The homogeneous network topologies comprise cells of about equal size, usually the macro layer. Nevertheless, with both network deployment strategies, cell edge users can experience intercell interference. This type of interference may be caused by downlink transmissions from two (or more) different base stations (cells). In a frequency reuse 1 system LTE, when the same frequency is used in all cells, this affects in particular user devices at the cell edge. The goal of the CoMP is to further minimize intercell interference for cells that are operating on the same frequency. With the HetNets, the intercell interference becomes even more significant due to unbalanced output powers used in the macrocell and picocell / femtocell layer. The CoMP can coordinate the optimization of transmission and reception from multiple distribution points, which could be either multiple cells or RRHs including mobile devices. It also has a positive effecton power consumption as well as overall throughput and thus system capacity. Additionally, it allows load balancing between cells that are coordinated.

[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates four different CoMP scenarios in 3 GPP standardization.

[0029] The first two scenarios focus on homogeneous network deployments, one with a single eNodeB serving multiple sectors (scenario 1 as depicted at the upper left of FIG. 1) and the other with multiple high-transmit-power RRHs (scenario 2 as depicted at the upper right of FIG. 1). The remaining two scenarios target HetNets. In HetNets, macrocells and small(er) cells are jointly deployed using different cell identities (ID), as shown in scenario 3, or the same cell ID, as shown in scenario 4 as depicted at the bottom right of FIG. 1. Due to its complexity, the CoMP has been separated during the standardization process into two independent work items for downlink and uplink. Both link directions benefit from the two major schemes being used in CoMP including joint processing (JP), which includes joint transmission (JT for downlink) and joint reception (JR for uplink) as well as coordinated scheduling / beamforming. Performance gains from the CoMP result from managing the interference at cell boundaries, specifically in the HetNet scenario.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows an example of CoMP cooperating set and CoMP measurement set.

[0031] The left side of FIG. 2 illustrates CoMP cooperating, downlink, and measurement set for cells using the same cell identity / identities and the right side of FIG. 2 illustrates CoMP cooperating, downlink, and measurement set for cells using different cell identity / identities.

[0032] The CoMP cooperating set is determined by higher layers. The CoMP cooperating set is a set of geographically separated and distributed multi points (e.g., antenna, base station, cell, etc.) that are directly or indirectly involved in data transmission to a device (e.g., a UE) in a timefrequency resource. Within the CoMP cooperating set, there are CoMP points (or transmission points) which actually transmit data to the device. The distribution points belonging to the CoMP cooperation set may share channel information (e.g., Channel State Information; CSI) of the device to determine the CoMP points among the distribution points. The CoMP cooperating set could contain multiple points at each subframe (e.g., joint transmission) or a single point at each subframe (e.g., coordinated scheduling / beamforming).

[0033] The CoMP measurement set is a set of points about which channel state information (CSI), or statistical data related to their link to the device (UE) is measured and / or reported. The CoMP measurement set is determined by higher layers. The device is enabled to down select the points for which the actual feedback is reported.

[0034] The CoMP resource management is a set of CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resources for which CSI-RS-based reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements can be made and reported.

[0035] In some implementations, all cells use different physical cell identities. In some implementations, multiple cells have the same cell identity. For the multiple cells having the same cell identity, the concept of virtual cell identities (VCID) can be used. VCIDs are assigned by higher layers.

[0036] FIG. 3 provides an overview of CoMP schemes in the downlink and uplink.

[0037] As discussed above, coordinating the downlink transmissions from each point to the user equipment (UE) can significantly increases the downlink performance. Likewise, by coordinating the uplink transmissions from the user equipment (UE), the multiple points may take advantage of the multiple receptions to significantly improve the uplink performance. In CoMP transmissions, the channel state information (CSI) of each coordinated point may be reported separately or jointly with the same format as Release-10 or new formats. The use of CoMP transmission may increase uplink and downlink data transmission rates while ensuring consistent service quality and throughput on LTE wireless broadband networks and 3G networks. CoMP transmission may be used on both the uplink and the downlink. The CoMP transmission used on the uplink may be referred to as uplink CoMP (or uplink CoMP scheme), and the CoMP transmission used on the downlink may be referred to as downlink CoMP (or downlink CoMP scheme).

[0038] Two major CoMP transmission methods for the downlink CoMP scheme and the uplink scheme include joint processing (JP) and coordinated scheduling / coordinated beamforming (CS / CB). In joint processing (FP) (also referred to as joint transmission (JT)), the data may be transmitted by only one transmission point to the user equipment (UE). Dynamic point selection (DPS), including dynamic point blanking, may also be used.

[0039] In the downlink, joint transmission supports simultaneous data transmission between multiple points and a single UE or multiple UEs. Thus, UE data is available at multiple points, belonging to the CoMP cooperating set, throughout the network. The joint transmission is provided to increase signal quality at the receiver and thus the average throughput. The coherency of joint transmission refers to the ability to form precoders that exploit the phase and possibly amplitude relations between channels associated with different transmission points.

[0040] Thus, the coherent joint transmission jointly precodes the signal from multiple transmission points. In noncoherent joint transmission, each transmission point individually precodes multiple signals and the UE receives multiple signals individually precoded. The joint transmission requires a low latency between the transmission points, high bandwidth backhaul and low mobility UEs. For dynamic point selection (DPS), the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) data has to be available at multiple points. However, in contrast to joint transmission, data is only transmitted from one point at any given time. For coordinated scheduling / beamforming (CS / CB), the data is only present at one transmission point.

[0041] In coordinated scheduling / coordinated beamforming (CS / CB), the scheduling of the transmission (including beamforming functionality) may be dynamically coordinated between the points (i.e., the points in a serving coordinated multipoint (CoMP) cooperating set) to control / reduce the interference between different coordinated multipoint transmission (CoMP transmission) and non-coordinated multipoint transmission (non-CoMP transmission). Furthermore, with the coordination of frequency allocations and used precoding schemes (beamforming) at the various transmission points, performance can be increased, and interference mitigated. The coordinated scheduling / coordinated beamforming (CS / CB) may include TSN scheduling.

[0042] The CoMP schemes implemented for the uplink are similar. For joint reception, the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) data transmitted by the UE is received jointly at multiple points (part of or entire CoMP cooperating set) simultaneously to improve the received signal quality. With regard to coordinated scheduling and beamforming (CS / CB) in the uplink, the scheduling and precoding selection decisions are made with coordination among points corresponding to the CoMP cooperating set. But the PUSCH data is intended for one point only. Thus virtual cell IDs are introduced due to CoMP in the LTE uplink. In 3 GPP Release 8, the generation of the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) embedded in two defined single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols in an uplink subframe is dependent on the physical cell identity (PCI). The PCI is derived from the downlink.

[0043] HetNets deployment scenarios include a macro cell that provides the coverage and several small cells are used for capacity. For HetNets deployment scenarios, there may be higher uplink interference at the cell boundaries when macrocells and small cells are using the same cell identities. The Virtual Cell ID (VCID) is used to signal a dedicated cell ID via radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling to be used by the UE for uplink transmission such that the UE signal can be received by different reception points.

[0044] The LTE-Advanced CoMP is a complex and powerful technology enhancement. The various downlink and uplink CoMP (or downlink and uplink CoMP schemes) can increase both base station and mobile device complexity. With respect to the uplink CoMP, the burden appears on the base station receiver end. More precisely, UE data needs to be transferred between multiple reception points and jointly processed. For intra-eNodeB (intra-sector) CoMP, this becomes purely implementation-dependent without impact on testing since the combining takes place in a single entity.

[0045] A standard test scenario has been used to simulate multiple UEs for testing the base station receiver since the beginning of cellular technologies. For example, fiber connections can satisfy transferring user data between multiple reception points that places latency requirements on the inter-eNodeB interface. Therefore, a new test scenario for testing a single eNodeB may evolve into testing a distributed base station architecture comprising multiple baseband units (BBU), sometimes also called digital units (DU), in combination with high-power or low-power RRHs (as shown in Figure 1, scenarios 2 to 4).

[0046] However, the new test scenario will not change the testing principle, because the input signal from multiple UEs needs to be provided in the same way. There also remains the need to verify the signaling information exchange between UE(s) and BBUs combined with RRHs. The new test scenario can be added in order to verify the VCID concept. In the downlink, i.e., testing the UE implementation, CoMP may require redesign in the receiver chain because multiple signals from multiple transmission points - potentially on multiple frequencies - need to be successfully combined. It is essential to have good knowledge of the channel conditions of a particular UE toward the cooperating transmission points to allow any CoMP algorithm to schedule the best possible resource from the best possible transmission point.

[0047] Consequently, UE measurements on the various reference symbols (cell and channel state information reference symbols (CSI-RS) and interference measurement resources (IMR)) may need to be verified. Thus, a mobile communications tester needs to establish multiple scenarios in an easy and efficient way. In contrast to traditional LTE operation, signals from multiple transmission points may expose frequency and time shifts.

[0048] Frequency and timing correction measures at the UE end need to be tested extensively because reporting channel quality information (CQI) is so important. The test case details have been drafted based on initial agreements made in 3 GPP RAN4 by the responsible working group (e.g., RAN5) in 3GPP, the group that defines the performance requirements. Finally, any efficient CoMP algorithm in the network may be applicable to a large number of cells in a certain network area, if not in the complete network. This means that it may be possible to determine whether the implementation-dependent CoMP algorithm is delivering its capacity gain promise by monitoring Key Performance indicators (KPIs) in the core network (e.g., overall data throughput per cell). When errors occur, it will be necessary to conduct dedicated drive testing in order to identify the cause of a problem.

[0049] The CoMP is a key technology component in LTE-Advanced 3GPP Release 11 for further increasing system capacity. With the advent of continuously increased data consumption, especially from smartphones, and exponential growth in the number of machine-type communications devices such as sensors, the CoMP has become the technology of choice for network operators to meet capacity requirements. The major design challenge is on the network end. This is because coordination across multiple cells requires high capacity and low latency interfaces between BBUs. Additionally, precise and accurate knowledge of propagation conditions at the end user position is essential. This requires comprehensive verification of UE reporting behavior under various conditions.

[0050] In the CoMP without sharing user data, the data to / from single UE via one point (e.g., transmission point) may include coordinated scheduling, coordinated beamforming and Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC, elCIC, (ICIC, elCIC, felCIC). The coordinate transmission / reception within a Cooperation Area (CA) has more flexible interference control than static frequency reuse. In some embodiments, possible coordinated entities of the CoMP may include Remote Radio Units (RRUs), Cells with intra-site or inter-site coordination and Relay nodes (RNs). The CoMP system may use multi-cell coordination with BSs, RRUs and RNs within the cells. To ensure it is sufficiently reliable, the CoMP has built-in redundancy. It uses a mechanism called CoMP transmission to receive the signal on multiple antennas. If one antenna fades, the system can still communicate to keep the cycle times and avoid big disturbances.

[0051] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of MIMO-like behavior of multiple distributed cell towers.

[0052] The CoMP transmission and reception may use multi-cell coordination with BSs, RRUs and RNs within the cells. As explained above, possible coordinated entities for CoMP (e.g., the CoMP in FIG. 1-FIG. 4) may include Remote Radio Units (RRUs), cells with intra-site or inter-site coordination and Relay nodes (RNs). FIG. 4 shows an example of the CoMP with multiple BSs in cells, but the CoMP is not limited to this example. The central coordination node of the CoMP may transmit precoding weights and user data to multiple BSs in cells, and the multiple BSs may transmit channel state information.

[0053] FIG. 5 illustrates examples of CoMP transmission and reception.

[0054] The CoMP transmission and reception may use multi-cell coordination with BSs, RRUs and RNs within the cells. As explained above, possible coordinated entities for CoMP (e.g., the CoMP in FIG. 1-FIG. 4) may include Remote Radio Units (RRUs), cells with intra-site or inter-site coordination and Relay nodes (RNs). FIG. 5 illustrates three examples of coordinated transmission and reception (or CoMP transmission and reception) of various coordinated entities. The first example 5000 illustrates a coordinated transmission and reception between coordinated BS and RN in a single cell and a UE. The second example 5010 illustrates a coordinated transmission and reception between coordinated BS and RRU in a single cell and a UE. The third example 5020 illustrates a coordinated transmission and reception with an inter-BS communication interface.

[0055] FIG. 6 illustrates examples of CoMP transmission and reception.

[0056] As described in FIG. 1-FIG. 5, the CoMP transmission and reception for downlink and uplink may improve system capacity and cell edge user throughput. FIG. 6 illustrates two different methods of the CoMP transmission and reception. The first method uses autonomous, decentralized control and an architecture with independent eNodeBs (or eNBs). The eNB is a base station connected to the network that communicate wirelessly with UE in the wireless communication system. In the first method, the CoMP is performed by signaling between eNBs (e.g., a centralized eNB and independent eNB in FIG. 6). The first method can utilize legacy cells, but the disadvantages may include signaling delay and other overhead. The second method uses centralized control and an architecture based on Remote Radio Equipment (RRE). In the second method, the eNB (e.g., the centralized eNB in FIG. 6) can centralize and control all radio resources by transmitting baseband data directly between the eNB and RRE on optical fiber connections. There is little signaling delay or other overheads in this technique, and intra-cell radio resourcecontrol is relatively easy. However, optical fibers may require significant Capital Expenditure (CAPEX), and the centralized eNB must be able to handle higher loads according to the number of RREs. Therefore, both two methods may be under consideration for LTE-Advanced.

[0057] FIG. 7 illustrates an example of Coordinated Scheduling / Coordinated Beamforming (CS / CB) of downlink CoMP.

[0058] In CS / CB, transmission to a single UE is performed by a serving cell, just as in non- CoMP transmission. However, the scheduling of transmissions is dynamically coordinated between the cells, including any beamforming functionality. In that way, the interference between different transmissions can be controlled and reduced. In principle, schedule optimization will be based on the set of users being served, so that the transmitter beams are constructed to reduce interference with other neighboring users while increasing the served users’ signal strength.

[0059] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of joint processing for downlink CoMP.

[0060] In some embodiments, the joint transmission transmits data to a single UE simultaneously from multiple transmission points. The example 8000 illustrates a joint transmission of the joint processing by multiple cells to a given UE, in which they transmit at the same time using the same time and frequency radio resources. The example 8010 illustrates a dynamic cell selection of the joint processing in which cells can be selected at any time in consideration of interference.

[0061] The multiple transmission may be coherent / non-coherent transmission. The coherent transmission does precoding between cells and uses in-phase combining at the receiver. The noncoherent transmission uses soft-combining reception of the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal. The multipoint transmissions may be coordinated as a single transmitter with multiple antennas that are geographically separated. This scheme offers potentially higher performance gains compared to CS / CB, but also places a high signaling overhead on the backhaul network.

[0062] The uplink CoMP uses geographically separated antennas for receiving signals from UEs, and scheduling decisions are coordinated by multiple cells to control interference. The UE is not aware that multiple cells are receiving its signal, so the impact on radio interface specifications is minimal. Implementation of the uplink CoMP largely depends on the scheduler and receivers in the cells.

[0063] Multiple -antennas configuration is used in various technologies which are standardized by 3GPP. For example, as described above, the CoMP is standardized by 3GPP to improve coverage, cell-edge throughput, and / or system efficiency. When a UE is in the cell-edge region, the CoMP may be able to receive signals from multiple cell sites simultaneously and the UE’s transmission may be received at the multiple cell sites simultaneously as well. This coordination can be simple as in the techniques that focus on interference avoidance or more complex as in the case where the same data is transmitted from multiple cell sites. Since the signal can be received by multiple cell sites, if the scheduling is coordinated from the different cell sites, the wireless communication system can take advantage of this multiple reception to significantly improve the link performance. Also Multi Input Multi Output (MIMO) and beamforming, which are using the multiple-antennas configuration, are standardized by 3 GPP to increase spectral efficiency and celledge throughput as well. The MIMO is a signal transmission technology that uses multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to perform spatial multiplexing and improve communication quality and spectral efficiency. The beamforming is a signal processing procedure used with multiple arrays of antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to increase system capacity and performance.In accordance with some embodiments, the wireless communication system lies in the use of the multiple-antennas configuration with Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) to increase availability without impacting latency determinism.

[0064] Coordination among transceivers in the multipoint system assumes that the data to be transmitted / received is available and ready for transmission or reception at multiple simultaneous locations in the system. Therefore, a TSN scheduler would have to take these conditions into account and develop schedules accordingly (e.g., IEEE 802.1CB). In addition, the multipleantennas configuration could affect deterministic message latencies in its own algorithms. Thus, the multiple-antennas configuration and TSN will require additional standardization to be compatible.

[0065] Fig. 9 illustrates an example of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system 100 in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0066] FIG. 9 illustrates a non-limiting example of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system 100 in which a wireless network (e.g., 5G, 5G+, 6G, a next wireless network, etc.) or system 106 is configured to be emulated as a single TSN component (e.g., a TSN bridge). Overall,the system 100 is configured as a deterministic TSN system to communicate data between enddevices, e.g., input / output (I / O) devices 102 and a controller 104, via the 5G system 106 (emulating as a TSN bridge) and one or more TSN bridges 108 using a TSN controller 110. The system 100 is configured based on standard methods for time synchronization and traffic management, allowing deterministic communication over standard Ethernet networks between end-devices, e.g., the I / O devices 102 and the controller 104. For example, the system 100 may operate in accordance with the IEEE 802. IQ TSN specification suite, which standardizes layer-2 communication for networking protocols providing deterministic communication while sharing the same infrastructure. For example, a number of standards establish various technological paradigms for a TSN system - clock synchronization (802. IAS, generalized Precision Time Protocol (gPTP)), frame preemption (802.3br and 802.1Qbu), scheduled traffic (802.1Qbv), and redundancy management (Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability (FRER) IEEE 802.1CB). These standards work together at the Ethernet layer-2 to ensure that control and safety functions are executed while meeting their respective deadlines and constraints. As another implementation, similar integrated system may be configured to implement TSN techniques over a wireless local area network (wireless LAN) such as a Wi-Fi network, e.g., based on Wi-Fi 6 and other common wireless LANs.

[0067] For example, the 802.1Qbv TSN standard provides scheduled transmissions for safety- critical data frames in a predetermined manner, and is incorporated herein in its entirety. As used herein, “TSN schema” can refer, without limitation, to networks, components, elements, units, nodes, hubs, switches, controls, modules, pathways, data, data frames, traffic, protocols, operations, transmissions, and combinations thereof, that adhere to, are configured for, or are compliant with, one or more of IEEE 802.1 TSN standards. The 802. IQbv TSN standard addresses the transmission of critical and non-critical data traffic within a TSN. Critical data traffic is guaranteed for delivery at a scheduled time while non-critical data traffic is usually given lower priority. Various traffic classes have been established according to IEEE 802. IQ that are used to prioritize different types of data traffic.

[0068] Ethernet frame preemption is defined by the IEEE 802.3br and IEEE 802.1Qbu standards, which can suspend the transmission of a non-critical Ethernet frame, is also beneficial to decrease latency and latency variation of critical traffic. Resource management basics are defined by the TSN configuration models (IEEE 802.1Qcc). Centralized Network Configuration(CNC) 112 can be applied to the network devices (bridges, e.g., the 5G system bridge 106, bridges 108), whereas, Centralized User Configuration (CUC) 114 can be applied to user devices (end stations, e.g., the I / O devices 102), e.g., as specified in IEEE 802.1Qdj [Lieee802.org / tsn / 802- Iqdj / ]. The fully centralized configuration model follows a software-defined networking (SDN) approach. In other words, the CNC 112 and the CUC 114 in the TSN controller 110 provide the control plane instead of distributed protocols. In contrast, distributed control protocols are applied in the fully distributed model, where there may be no CNC or CUC.

[0069] High availability, as a result of ultra-reliability, may be provided by Frame Replication and Elimination for Reliability (FRER) (IEEE 802.1CB) for data flows through a per-packet-level reliability mechanism. This provides reliability by transmitting multiple copies of the same data packets over disjoint paths in the network. Per-Stream Filtering and Policing (802.1Qci) improves reliability by protecting against bandwidth violation, malfunctioning and malicious behavior. Further, the time synchronization in the TSN system may be defined by the generalized Precision Time Protocol (gPTP) (802. IAS), which is a profile of the Precision Time Protocol standard (IEEE 1588). The gPTP provides reliable time synchronization, which can be used by other TSN tools, such as Scheduled Traffic (802.1Qbv), as specified by 3GPP specifications (e.g., 5G support of integration TSN (3GPP TS 23.501, System Architecture for 5G System; Stage 2 (clauses 4.4.8, 5.27, 5.28, Annex H, Annex I on support for TSN and clauses 5.6.10.2, 5.7.6.3, 5.8.2.5.3 on Ethernet forwarding)), flows for 5Gs integration with TSN (3GPP TS 23.502, Procedures for 5G System; Stage 2 (Annex F on support for TSN)), 5GS Enhanced support of Vertical and LAN Services (3GPP WID: 830042 (VerticaULAN)), 3GPP Liaison Statement (S2-2003508) to IEEE on specification maturity for IEEE TSN integration work in 3 GPP Release- 16, with further enhancements expected in Release-17) which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

[0070] To achieve desired levels of reliability, TSNs employ time synchronization, and time- aware data traffic shaping. The data traffic shaping uses the schedule to control gating of transmissions on the network switches and bridges (e.g., nodes). In some aspects, the schedules for such data traffic in TSNs can be determined prior to operation of the network. In other aspects, the schedules for data traffic can be determined during an initial design phase based on system requirements, and updated as desired. For example, in addition to defining a TSN topology (including communication paths, bandwidth reservations, and various other parameters), a networkwide synchronized time for data transmission can be predefined. Such a plan for datatransmission on communication paths of the network is typically referred to as a “communication schedule” or simply “schedule.” The schedule for data traffic on a TSN can be determined for a specific data packet over a specific path, at a specific time, for a specific duration. A non-limiting example of a technique for generating schedule for TSN data traffic is discussed in U.S. Application No. 17 / 100,356, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

[0071] Time-critical communication between end devices or nodes (e.g., the I / O devices 102 and the controller 104) in TSNs includes “TSN flows” also known as “data flows” or simply, “flows.” For example, data flows can comprise datagrams, such as data packets or data frames. Each data flow is unidirectional, going from a first originating or source end device (e.g., the I / O device 102) to a second destination end device (e.g., the controller 104) in a system, having a unique identification and time requirement. These source devices and destination devices are commonly referred to as “talkers” and “listeners.” Specifically, the “talkers” and “listeners” are the sources and destinations, respectively, of the data flows, and each data flow is uniquely identified by the end devices operating in the system. It will be understood that for a given network topology comprising a plurality of interconnected devices, a set of data flows between the interconnected devices or nodes can be defined. For example, the set of data flows can be between the interconnected devices. For the set of data flows, various subsets or permutations of the dataflows can additionally be defined. Further, time-critical communication between end devices or nodes in TSNs includes “TSN streams” or “streams,” where each TSN stream may originate at a specific talker node intended to be communicated to one or more listener nodes. As such, each TSN stream may include one or more data flows, where each data flow is between the talker node (where the TSN stream originated) and a listener node.

[0072] Both end devices (e.g., 102, 104) and switches (commonly called “bridges” or “switching nodes”) (e.g., 106, 108) transmit and receive the data (in one non-limiting example, Ethernet frames) in a data flow based on a predetermined time schedule. The switching nodes and end devices must be time-synchronized to ensure the predetermined time schedule for the data flow is followed correctly throughout the network. For example, in FIG. 9, the clocks 116 represent that the various switching nodes and end devices in the TSN system 100 (including in the 5G system 106) are be time-synchronized with reference to a global clock (grandmaster clock timing). In some other aspects, only the switches can transmit the data based on the pre-determinedschedule, while the end devices, for example legacy devices, can transmit data in an unscheduled manner.

[0073] The data flows within a TSN can be scheduled using a single device (e.g., the TSN controller 110) that assumes fixed, non-changing paths through the network between the talker / listener devices and switching nodes in the network. Alternatively, the data flows can be scheduled using a set of devices or modules. The scheduling devices, whether a single device or a set of devices, can be arranged to define a centralized scheduler. In still other aspects, the scheduler devices can comprise a distributed arrangement. The TSN can also receive non-time sensitive communications, such as rate-constrained communications. In one non-limiting example, the scheduling devices can include an offline scheduling system or module.

[0074] TSN traffic may be tagged using a variety of mechanisms, including VLAN tag Ethernet address IP header information, and a combination of VLAN tag Ethernet address and IP header information. Traffic may be identified and tagged anywhere in the system before protocol data unit (PDU) identification is required. A TSN Talker may create multiple TSN flows (streams) with different TSN latency and determinism requirements and may be assigned different paths that meet the requirements. In some implementations of the subject invention, the latency and determinism values may be specified and offered to TSN applications as a limited set of static, discrete values, rather than an offering to accept an unlimited set of continuous values.

[0075] In some implementations, the I / O end device 102 may be, in various aspects, a complex mechanical entity such as the production line of a factory, a gas-fired electrical generating plant, avionics data bus on an aircraft, a jet engine on an aircraft amongst a fleet (e.g., two or more aircraft), a digital backbone in an aircraft, an avionics system, mission or flight network, a wind farm, a locomotive, etc. In various implementations, the I / O end device 102 may include any number of end devices, such as sensors, actuators, motors, and software applications. The sensors may include any conventional sensor or transducer, such as a camera that generates video or image data, an x-ray detector, an acoustic pick-up device, a tachometer, a global positioning system receiver, a wireless device that transmits a wireless signal and detects reflections of the wireless signal in order to generate image data, or another device.

[0076] Further, the actuators (e.g., devices, equipment, or machinery that move to perform one or more operations of the I / O device 102) can communicate using the TSN system 100. Nonlimiting examples of the actuators may include brakes, throttles, robotic devices, medical imagingdevices, lights, turbines, etc. The actuators can communicate status data of the actuators to one or more other devices (e.g., other I / O devices 102, the controller 104 via the TSN system 100). The status data may represent a position, state, health, or the like, of the actuator sending the status data. The actuators may receive command data from one or more other devices (e.g., other I / O devices 102, the controller 104) of the TSN system 100. The command data may represent instructions that direct the actuators how or when to move, operate, etc.

[0077] In some implementations, the controller 104 can communicate a variety of data between or among the I / O end devices 102 via the TSN 100. For example, the control system 104 can communicate the command data to one or more of the devices 102 or receive data, such as status data or sensor data, from one or more of the devices 102. Accordingly, the controller 104 may be configured to control operations of the I / O devices 102 based on data obtained or generated by, or communicated among the I / O devices 102 to allow for, e.g., automated control of the I / O devices 102 and provide information to operators or users of the I / O devices 102. The controller 104 may define or determine the data flows and data flow characteristics in the TSN system 100.

[0078] Referring now to the 5G system 106 within the system 100, the 5G network or system 106 is a wireless communication network or system used to carry TSN traffic between various TSN end devices, e.g., the I / O devices 102 and the controller 104. In some implementations, the 5G system 106 is configured to emulate as one TSN bridge per User Plane Function (UPF) (similar to TSN bridges 108, according to the TSN standards discussed above). The 5G system 106 may be a New Radio (NR) network implemented in accordance with 3GPP 23 and 38 series specifications (which are incorporated herein in their entirety), and integrated into the system 100 in accordance with the 3GPP Release 17 23.501 standard (for example, V17.1.1 and V17.2.0), which is incorporated herein in entirety. As shown, the 5G system 106 may include various wireless network (WN) components such as, in the 5G user plane, User Equipment (UE) 118, RAN (gNB) 120, User Plane Function (UPF) 122, and in the 5G control plane, application function (AF) 124, and session management function (SMF) and policy control function (PCF) 126, among other components, in accordance with 3GPP specifications (e.g., 3GPP 23.501 standard and 3GPP TS 24.519 standard). For example, the AF 124 connects the CUC (e.g., CUC 114) / CNC (e.g., CNC 112) and 5G control plane (or 5G system 106). As defined in the 3GPP standard specifications (e.g., 3GPP TS 29.514 V18.0.0 (2022-12), 3GPP TS 29 512 V17.9.0 (2023-01), 3GPP TS 24 519 V16.7.0 (2022-10)), tsnBridgelnfo may be used to detect new TSN bridge. The 3GPPspecifications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. In some implementations, the 5G system 106 may be configured to provide an ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) service. The 5G system 106 based on the New Radio (NR) interface includes several functionalities to achieve low latency for selected data flows. NR enables shorter slots in a radio subframe, which benefits low-latency applications. NR also introduces mini-slots, where prioritized transmissions can be started without waiting for slot boundaries, further reducing latency. As part of giving priority and faster radio access to URLLC traffic, NR introduces preemption - where URLLC data transmission can preempt ongoing non-URLLC transmissions. Additionally, NR applies very fast processing, enabling retransmissions even within short latency bounds.

[0079] In some implementations, 5G defines extra-robust transmission modes for increased reliability for both data and control radio channels. Reliability is further improved by various techniques, such as multi-antenna transmission based on multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, the use of multiple carriers and packet duplication over independent radio links.

[0080] Time synchronization is embedded into the 5G cellular radio systems as an essential part of their operation, which has already been common practice for earlier cellular network generations. The radio network components themselves are also time synchronized, for instance, through the precision time protocol telecom profile, e g., based on a 5G internal system clock 190. This provides a good basis to provide synchronization for time-critical applications. For URLLC service, the 5G system 106 uses time synchronization for its own operations, as well as the multiple antennas and radio channels that provide reliability. Besides the 5G RAN features, the 5G system 106 may also provide solutions in the core network (CN) for Ethernet networking and URLLC. The 5G CN supports native Ethernet protocol data unit (PDU) sessions. 5G assists the establishment of redundant user plane paths through the 5GS, including RAN, the CN and the transport network. The 5GS also allows for a redundant user plane separately between the RAN and CN nodes, as well as between the UE and the RAN nodes.

[0081] As noted above, in the integrated system 100, the 5G system 106 includes one TSN (logical) bridge per UPF. The 5G system 106 includes TSN Translator (TT) functionality for the adaptation of the 5G system 106 to the TSN domain, both for the user plane and the control plane, hiding the 5G system 106’s internal procedures from the TSN bridged network. The 5G system106 provides TSN bridge ingress and egress port operations through the TT functionality. For instance, the TTs support hold and forward functionality for de-jittering. FIG. 9 illustrates the case when the 5G system 106 connects an end station 102 to a bridged network 108; however, the 5G system 106 may also interconnect bridges 108.

[0082] For the 5G system 106 to be integrated into the TSN system 100, requirements of a TSN stream can be fulfilled only when resource management allocates the network resources for each hop along the whole path. In line with TSN configuration (802.1Qcc), this is achieved through interactions between the 5G system 106 and a configuration controller, e.g., a centralized configuration controller 110 (including the CUC 114 and the CNC 112) and / or a set of decentralized controller modules (e.g., as discussed below with respect to FIG. 10). The interface between the 5G system 106 and the CNC allows for the CNC 112 to learn the characteristics of the 5G virtual bridge, and for the 5G system 106 to establish connections with specific parameters based on the information received from the CNC 112. Bounded latency requires deterministic delay from 5G as well as QoS alignment between the TSN and 5G domains. For instance, if a 5G virtual bridge acts as a TSN bridge, then the 5G system 106 emulates time-controlled packet transmission in line with Scheduled Traffic per 802.1Qbv for example. For the 5G control plane, the TT in the AF 124 receives the transmission time information of the TSN traffic classes from the CNC 112. In the 5G user plane, the TT at the UE 118 and the TT at the UPF 122 may regulate the time-based packet transmission accordingly. The different TSN traffic classes may be mapped to different 5G QoS Indicators (5QIs) in the AF 124 and the PCF 126 as part of the QoS alignment between the TSN and 5G domains, and the different 5QIs are treated according to their QoS requirements.

[0083] With respect to time synchronization, the 5G system 106 may implement the gPTP of the connected TSN network. The 5G system 106 may act as a virtual gPTP time-aware system and support the forwarding of gPTP time synchronization information between end stations 102 and bridges 108 through the 5G user plane TTs. All of the various 3GPP and TSN standards mentioned in this disclosure are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0084] FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of an example integrated TSN-wireless communication system 200 architecture in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0085] Referring now to FIG. 10, which illustrates a block diagram of a system 200 architecture in accordance with some implementations of the subject technology. Broadly, thesystem 200 depicts a block diagram of an example implementation of an integrated TSN- wireless communication system similar to the system 100 described above, and also include similar physical components as in the system 100 discussed above. However, unlike the system 100, the system 200 provides a novel architecture for an integrated TSN-wireless communication system in which the 5G system 106 is configured as a set of discrete 5G components where each 5G component is configured to emulate as one discrete TSN block or element 202. In other words, in the system 200, the 5G system 106 is configured as a disaggregated structure including a plurality of TSN blocks 202-1 to 202-N, where each TSN block 202 is configured in accordance with TSN specifications (e.g., per IEEE 802.1 and related standards discussed above), e.g., as a TSN bridge, TSN end device (i.e., as a TSN Talker and / or a TSN Listener), or a combination of two. Further, instead of having a centralized configuration controller 110 to control the TSN-wireless communication system, the subject technology provides for a plurality of distributed configuration modules 215 in a distributed controller 210 in the TSN-wireless communication system 200. The configuration modules 215-a to 215-f may be interconnected in one or more topologies (mesh, star, tree) and each configuration module 215 may be responsible to communicate with and configure one or more TSN blocks 202. In some implementations, one or more of the configuration modules 215-a to 215-f may be implemented within or as part of a function (e.g., SMF 126) of the control plane of the 5G system 106. As used herein, a “topology” can refer to one or more arrangement(s) of a network which can include a plurality of nodes (e.g., sender devices, receiver devices, switches, or bridges) and connecting lines (e.g., communication links, or “hops” including wired communication links or wire-less communication links) between the nodes in the network. Each link can communicatively couple a corresponding pair of nodes. A set of links can be coupled in sequence via their respective nodes to define a link path, for example between an originating node and a destination node. Topologies may comprise, but are not limited to, one or more of mesh, star, bus, ring, and tree topologies.

[0086] In some implementations, the system 200 is configured to support and manage deterministic TSN data flows between a data source 204 (“source device”) and a data destination device 206 (“destination device”) via the 5G system 106 in accordance with TSN configuration including a TSN schedule determined by one or more of the configuration modules 215. The data source 204 and the data destination 206 may include one or more of the I / O devices 102 and thecontroller 104. Although not shown, the system 200 may also include TSN bridges 108 and other TSN components.

[0087] In some implementations, in the disaggregated structure, each of the plurality of TSN blocks 202-1 to 202-N may correspond to one specific component of the 5G system, e.g., the 5G network or system 106 shown in FIG. 9 and discussed above. In some implementations, the disaggregated 5G logical blocks (e.g., TsnB ridgeinfo) may coordinate their TSN flow time budgets at a lower level similar to TR 126 910 VI 7.0.0 (2022-05). As described in FIG. 9, tsnBridgelnfo may be used to detect new TSN bridge. In some embodiments, Type tsnBridgelnfo may include a list defining multiple TSN blocks internal to 5GS rather than a single TsnBridgelnfo for the entire 5GS. In some embodiments, a TSN block can be defined in a list of tsnBridgelnfo that can change during 5G operation to optimize performance. Thus, internal network components (e.g., 5G components, antennas, user devices, cells) can be TsnBlocked or deblocked, network components can be rearranged to achieve better performance. Also, such arrangement would have interfaces to AI / ML application and SON application.

[0088] FIG. 11 illustrates corresponding elements of the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 100 and the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 200 in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0089] For example, as shown in Fig. 11, the UE 118 may be configured to emulate as the TSN block 202-1, the RAN 120 may be configured to emulate as the TSN block 202-2, the 5G transport network link 140 between the RAN 120 and the UPF 122 may be configured to emulate as the TSN block 202-3, the UPF 122 may be configured to emulate as the TSN block 202-4, and the core network and / or other typical components of a 5G system (e.g., fronthaul, backhaul, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) module) may be configured to emulate as one or more TSN blocks 202-N. Each TSN block 202-1 to 202-N is configured in accordance with TSN specifications (e.g., per IEEE 802.1 and related standards discussed above), e.g., as a TSN bridge, TSN end device (TSN Talker and / or TSN Listener), or a combination of two. In some embodiments, the TSN bridge may coordinate TSN flow time budget at a lower level similar to TR 126 910 V17.0.0 (2022-05). The AF 124 may include AI / ML AF which has an AI / ML application function that allows the CNC for each TSN block to learn jitter and latency characteristics for each link configuration including CoMP transmission point set combinations. The 3GPP defines the AF as “a functional element that provides service- or application-relatedinformation to NF service consumers. The AI / ML AF is separate from the TSN AF. In some implementations, the AI / ML AF and the TSN AF may interact to provide services to one another. For example, the TSN AF may leverage the AI / ML AF to solve complex problems such as scheduling and the AI / ML AF may utilize the TSN AF to provide deterministic message flows for the AI / ML applications.

[0090] FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an example TSN block in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0091] In some implementations, as shown in FIG. 12, each TSN block 202 includes a processor 402, a memory device 404, an internal configuration interface (ICI) 406, a transmission module 408, a reporting module 410, and TSN translators (TT)-l 412-1, TT-2412- 2, and TT-3 412-3. The processor 402 may be a microprocessor or multi-core processor, an integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, etc. that processes TSN configuration data and executes instructions (stored in memory device 404, for example) to process and transmit TSN data traffic from one or more TSN data flows in accordance with the TSN configuration data.

[0092] The memory device 404 may store a set of parameters describing the capabilities to support and execute a data flow (e.g., carrying URLLC data traffic) through the corresponding TSN block 202. In some implementations, the set of parameters include, but are not limited to, identity, link quality, link bandwidth. The identity parameter(s) may include the device type (i.e., whether the TSN block 202 is a TSN bridge or a TSN end station). The latency parameter(s) may include at least port-to-port (start of TSN block to end of TSN block) latency, and latency variation (commonly known as “jitter”). The link quality param eter(s) may include at least packet error rate. The link bandwidth parameters) may include at least the available bandwidth in bits per second.

[0093] In some implementations, the set of parameters for a TSN block 202 may include a subset of parameters specific to 5G RAN including short transmission-time intervals, TSC assistance information (TSCAI), configured grant (CG) information, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) allocation and / or other parameters as specified in, e.g., 3GPP TS 28.540. Further, in some implementations, the set of parameters for a TSN block 202 may include a subset of parameters specific to TSN including time synchronization properties, scheduled transmissions (Qbv) attributes, redundancy attributes including a number of RANs connected to, number of paths toUPF, path diversity, number of available frequencies, propagation characteristics, available radios, different physical media (e.g., free space optics).

[0094] TSN (e.g., TSN described in FIG. 9- FIG. 12) is developed for wired factory control systems and automation. Factories have challenging RF environments, with blockage and reflections by fast moving metal objects such as Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), cranes and conveyor belts. Blockage can cause sudden drop in signal strength, while reflections can lead to rapidly varying interference from far-away cells. These challenges could be addressed by multiple-antennas configuration (e.g., CoMP) which is described in FIG. 1-FIG. 8. The multipleantennas configuration derives increased system capacity from spatial multiplexing of wireless transmission. CoMP combines antennas from multiple small cells to create more spatial dimensions. Additional spatial dimensions allow simultaneous transmission to multiple users in the same geographical area while minimizing interference.

[0095] FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system in accordance with one or more implementations.

[0096] FIG. 13 illustrates a non-limiting example of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system 1300 (e.g., the TSN-wireless communication system 100, the TSN- wireless communication system 200, etc.) including a TSN system 1310 and a wireless network (e.g., 5G, 5G+, 6G, a next generation wireless network, etc.) or system 1320 (e.g., a system 106) which is configured to be emulated as at least one logical TSN bridge (e.g., logical TSN bridge A, logical TSN bridge B) to communicate with the TSN system 1310. Broadly, the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 1300 depicts a block diagram of an example implementation of an integrated TSN-wireless communication system similar to the system 100 and the system 200 described above, and also include similar physical components as in the system 100 and the system 200 discussed above. As described above, the TSN system 1310 includes a TSN controller 110 (referred to as a TSN configuration module, a TSN control module or a configuration controller) which includes a Centralized Network Configuration (CNC) 112. The CNC 112 controls the at least one TSN bridges (e.g., the 5G system bridge 106) in the network. The CNC 112 may determine routes and scheduling the TSN flows through the bridged network and configure the at least one TSN bridges for TSN operation. The CNC 112 communicates with a Centralized User Configuration (CUC) (e.g., CUC 114, not shown in FIG. 13) to receive the communications requirements that the network must provide. The CNC 112may aggregate all the requests, figures out the optimal path for each communication request. The CNC 112 may include a scheduler (or a TSN scheduler) to schedule the end-to-end transmission for each TSN flow, and finally transfers the computed schedule to each TSN bridge. Each TSN bridge may have a unique identifier to differentiate one TSN flow from another. The unique identifier may include information that each TSN bridge may identify a corresponding TSN flow and transmit the TSN flow based on the correct schedule.

[0097] The integrated TSN-wireless communication system 1300 includes a multipleantennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330. The multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 is provided to configure CoMP as a TSN block (e.g., TSN blocks 202-1-202-N in FIG.10) in the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 1300. The multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 may be part of RAN 120 or RAN 120 in FIG. 11.

[0098] As above discussed, the multiple-antennas configuration derives increased system capacity from spatial multiplexing of wireless transmission and combines antennas from multiple small cells to create more spatial dimensions. The TSN features of 5G can provide TSN flows based on one or more TSN parameters (e.g., TSN cycle time, TSN offsets, etc.). Thus, the multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 focuses upon scheduling coordinated multi points to support TSN flows. The wireless network or system 1320 may include a plurality of network points (transmission points) 1340 and one or more UEs (or user devices) 118. In some embodiments, the network point may be an individual coordinated antenna. In some embodiments, the plurality of network points is configured to provide multiple-antennas functionality for wireless communication between the plurality of network points and one or more user devices. The 5G scheduler allocates resource blocks (RBs) to 5G scheduled transmission blocks (e.g., CoMP points) while the TSN system 1310 (or the CNC 121 or the scheduler in the CNC 121) allocates transmission times (or TSN scheduling and configuration) at a higher level. The TSN transmission times can be allocated to RBs so that CoMP of 5G can support TSN flows.

[0099] Thus, the multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 include all the components of multiple-antennas configuration specifications as described in FIG. 1- FIG. 8. Further, the multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 initially interacts with a wireless network 1320 and TSN system 1310 in the integrated TSN-wireless communication system 1300 by providing sets of transmission points (TP as defined in 3GPP TR 36.814, ornetwork points), such as individual coordinated antennas, which are composed of combinatorial sets of antennas and their coordinated transmission schedules. Thus, the CNC 121 may take CoMP sets (e.g., CoMP cooperating set and CoMP measurement set, etc.) into account when computing TSN scheduling and configuration. For example, the TSN controller 110 may receive information about CoMP sets (e.g., CoMP cooperating set and CoMP measurement set, etc.) from at least one logical TSN bridge (e.g., logical TSN bridge A, logical TSN bridge B) based on wireless communications 1350. The multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 provides a set of transmission points (TPs or network points) for CoMP operation or CoMP transmission (e.g., uplink CoMP, downlink CoMP as described in FIG. 1 to FIG. 8). As described above, transmission points may be antennas 1340 which are remotely distributed and coordinated at a higher level to communicate with a corresponding UE 118 (or a user device). The multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 (or a configuration controller 110 or CNC 121) may determine and provide to at least one of the plurality of network points one or more TSN parameters (e.g., TSN cycle time and offsets and CoMP transmission point configuration). In some implementations, an apparatus (e.g., a configuration controller 110 or CNC 121) is configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism. The apparatus may comprise a processor configured to determine one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, and provide the one or more TSN parameters to at least a subgroup of a group of the plurality of network points 1340 in the multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 such that a multiple-antennas configuration is determined based on the one or more TSN parameter. In some implementations, a group of the plurality of network points 1340 configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters may include TSN configuration. As shown in FIG. 13, the plurality of network points 1340 includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated in the multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330. In some implementations, the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information. In some implementations, the information related to multiple-antennas functionality includes informationabout a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points 1340 and the one or more user devices 118 as discussed above with respect to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. This apparatus can be implemented as one or more programs stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0100] The at least one of the plurality of network points is configured to determine the multiple-antennas configuration based on the one or more TSN parameters to operate as a TSN block in a TSN network. For example, an apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism comprises a processor configured to receive one or more TSN parameters that are determined based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points 1340 in a wireless network 1320. The processor is further configured to determine a multiple-antennas configuration for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as a TSN block in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration. In some implementation, the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3GPP standard. In some implementations, the apparatus may reside in at least one of, but is not limited to, a core network of the wireless network and a radio access network (RAN) including the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points 1340. For example, the apparatus may reside in the subgroup or each of the network points in the subgroup. As discussed above, a group of the plurality of network points 1340 is configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points 1340 and one or more user devices 118. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters may include TSN configuration. As shown in FIG. 13, the plurality of network points 1340 includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated in the multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330. In some implementations, the multipleantennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information. In some implementations, the information related to multiple-antennas functionality includes information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points 1340 and the one or more user devices 118 as discussed above with respect to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. This apparatus canbe implemented as one or more programs stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In some implementations, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for receiving one or more TSN parameters that are determined based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points 1340 in a wireless network 1320 and determining a multiple-antennas configuration for at least a subgroup of a group of the plurality of network points 1340 such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points 1340 is configured as a TSN block in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration. As discussed above, the group of the plurality of network points 1340 is configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points 1340 and one or more user devices 118. In some embodiments, a TSN block may correspond to a single point (or a network point) 1340 or a user device (e.g., UE 118). Thus, one or more TSN blocks are scheduled to support the multiple antennas transmission (e.g., CoMP, MIMO, beamforming, etc.) by the CNC 112. For example, one or more TSN blocks (e.g., the TSN block 202-2) may correspond to a set of coordinated antennas 1340 which perform downlink CoMP for a corresponding TSN block (e.g, TSN block 202-1 including the UE 118) based on the TSN schedule computed by CNC 112. In some embodiments, a single UE 118 may correspond to a single TSN block (e.g., the TSN block 202- 1). In some implementations, scheduled transmissions among the one or more TSN blocks (e.g., TSN blocks 202-2) corresponding to the set of coordinated antennas 1340 and a TSN block (e.g., the TSN block 202-1) corresponding to the UE 118 may involve transmission of uplink CoMP and downlink CoMP between the UE 118 and the set of coordinated antennas 1340. Each antenna (where antennas may be remotely distributed) is cognizant of its current wireless transmission schedule and signal strength with respect to its potential partner antennas. The set of transmission points include a set of geographically separated and distributed multi points (e.g., antennas, cells) that are directly or indirectly involved in data transmission to a device (e.g., a UE) in a time-frequency resource. As described above, the set of geographically separated and distributed multi points is referred to as the CoMP cooperating set which is determined higher layer of 5G network or system 1320. Moreover, the TSN block may include a set of points about which channel state information (CSI), or statistical data related to their link to the device (UE)is measured and / or reported. The set of points is referred to as the CoMP measurement set and determined higher layer of 5G network or system 1320. In addition, the set of transmission points in each TSN block also has associated intelligence (e.g., AI / ML) trained to infer coordinated configurations and their performance. Then the TSN controller 110 may determine TSN scheduling and configurations for the TSN block corresponding to the UE 118 and at least one of the plurality of network points 1340 based on one or more TSN parameters so that the UE and the at least one of the plurality of network points as a first TSN block (e.g., TSN block 202- 1) and a second TSN block (e.g., TSN block 202-2) in the TSN network in accordance with the one or more TSN parameters, respectively. The TSN controller 110 may determine the TSN scheduling and configurations for a transmission between the first TSN block and the second TSN block CoMP corresponding to the CoMP transmission. As described above, the CoMP transmission includes a joint processing (JP) and a coordinated scheduling / coordinated beamforming (CS / CB) and an uplink CoMP transmission and a downlink CoMP transmission.

[0101] The multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 may provide an estimated impact upon following features: The adjacent reachable devices - ordered list of unique identifiers of immediately reachable next-hop 5G devices (list of strings). The latency - ordered list of delay (picoseconds recommended) in transmission of smallest protocol data unit over each TSN flow to each adjacent reachable device (list of integers). The capacity - ordered list of maximum bits per second that can be transmitted to each adjacent device (list of integers). The frame Delay Variation (FDV) - ordered list of absolute value of the difference between the Forwarding Delay (picoseconds preferred) of two consecutive received packets belonging to the same stream to each adjacent reachable device (list of integers). Security - ordered list of capability of the channel to evade detection (ordered list of either high or low security level), Reliability or Availability - ordered list of likelihoods that the channel will meet its current performance requirement (uptime) over a ratio of the expected value of the uptime of a system to the aggregate of the expected values of up and down time (ordered list of probabilities). In some embodiments, the TSN scheduler (or a scheduler in CNC 112) schedules a TSN schedule with TSN cycle time and offsets for flows and generates multiple-antennas configuration (e.g., the CoMP transmission point configuration, transmission power, individual antennas transmission scheduling information, etc.) that supports the TSN flows over the coordinated transmissions. In some implementations, an apparatus that resides in at least one of, but is not limited to, a corenetwork of the wireless network and a radio access network (RAN) including the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points 1340 may receive the TSN schedule and generate multiple-antennas configuration that supports the TSN flows over the coordinated transmissions. The TSN scheduler may take input in the form of all possible multiple-antennas arrangement (e g., multiple antennas arrangement for MIMO or CoMP, multiple antennas patterns for beamforming, etc.) and their performance (latency, jitter, etc.) when computing (determining) the TSN schedule. For example, the multiple antennas pattern for beamforming may create narrow beams directed toward at least one antenna at a receiver side. In some embodiments, the multiple antennas arrangement may periodically change as a function of time. Thus TSN scheduler (or CNC 112) may interoperate with 3GPP AI-ML application functions (e.g., AF 124) as well as self-organizing networks (SON) application functions to predict of the multiple antennas on the TSN schedule. The 3GPP AI-ML application function is provided to predict performance of various transmission set combinations and the SON is provided to automate network optimization. The TSN scheduler may interoperate with one or more TSN blocks and its CNC / CUC.

[0102] 3GPP AI-ML application system (function) is particularly defined in ETSI TS 128 105 vl7.1.1.(2022-10) which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. AI-ML application system includes exchanges of training information between TSN block and 3 GPP AI- ML application system. Information related to multiple antennas such as CoMP point and measurement set in conjunction with MIMO and beamforming may be enhanced with the AI-ML application function prediction information which includes inferred jitter and availability information. Thus, the TSN block may also interoperate with the 3GPP AI-ML application function. In some embodiments, the predicted version of all information may be required by the TSN block scheduler from the AI-ML system where the predicted version of all information includes a list of predicted values, what time they will occur, and a confidence in the prediction. 3GPP Release 8 classifies the SON application into three main categories: self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-healing. Self-organization is regarded as a mechanism or a process that enables a system or network to change its organization without explicit command during its execution time. Self-configuration is defined as a process of incorporating a new Network Element (NE) into a service requiring minimal human operator intervention where a network element is a manageable logical entity uniting one or more physical devices. In someimplementations, each TSN block may be self-configuring and incorporated into a 5G system as a NE with minimum human intervention. This can be accomplished by TSN applications that automatically share their TSN flow (stream) characteristics and latency requirements with the TSN block. The TSN blocks may collaborate to share the flow characteristics and determine feasible TSN schedules. The SON may attempt to make the entire 5GS self-configuring from a global perspective. The TSN block may want to optimize its own TSN flows. Thus, there may be negotiation between the SON and the TSN block. In some implementations, the TSN block either agrees to use SON settings or presents alternative settings open to negotiation with the SON. The SON may be centralized or decentralized.

[0103] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of TSN scheduling.

[0104] The TSN Scheduling can be coordinated with the TSN cycle time and offsets for TSN flows based on the CoMP transmission point configuration (transmission power, individual antennas transmission scheduling, etc.). As describe above, the CNC 112 may schedule for TSN flows with pattern by ignoring TAS and TP for simplicity with Tcycle = 2 ms. NR slot duration for 5G network is 0.5 ms, and boundaries of NR RAN slots and TSN switch scheduling intervals are synchronized. Thus, the CNC 112 can schedule the TSN flows in coordination with CoMP such that messages between 5G cells minimize overlap (inter-symbol interference).

[0105] FIG. 15 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method.

[0106] The method 1500 can be performed by a configuration controller (e.g., TSN controller 110) associated with a wireless network configured to support multiple antennas based on a timesensitive network (TSN) mechanism and / or a multiple-antennas configuration-TSN subsystem 1330 as discussed above with respect to FIG. 13. In some implementations, the method 1500 can be performed by at least one of an apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism as discussed above with respect to FIG. 13. For example, the apparatus can reside in at least one of, but is not limited to, the configuration controller 110, a core network of the wireless network and a radio access network (RAN) including the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points 1340. For example, the method 1500 may be implemented as one or more programs stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and executed by one or more processors of an electronic device. The method 1500 includes determining (1510) one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network. In someembodiments, a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices. In some embodiments, the wireless network includes a communication network compatible with a 3GPP standard, such as a 5G network. The method 1500 further includes providing (1520) the one or more TSN parameters for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points. The method 1500 includes determining (1530) a multiple-antennas configuration for at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points based on the one or more TSN parameters such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as a TSN block in a TSN network to operate multipleantennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration. In some implementations, the one or more TSN parameters can be provided to at least one of the one or more user devices such that the at least one of the one or more user device is configured as a TSN block.

[0107] In some embodiments, the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated. In some embodiments, the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information. In some embodiments, the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multiple point (CoMP) functionality. In some embodiments, the information related to the multiple antennas includes information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the plurality of network points and one or more user devices. In some embodiments, the CoMP cooperating set represents a set of geographically separated and distributed multi network points to transmit data to the one or more user devices in a timefrequency resource. In some embodiments, the CoMP measurement set represents a set of network points about which the one or more user devices perform measurement of channel state information (CSI) and report. The CoMP transmission includes a joint processing (JP) and a coordinated scheduling / coordinated beamforming (CS / CB). And the CoMP transmission includes an uplink CoMP transmission and a downlink CoMP transmission.

[0108] Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. The described functionality may be implemented in varying ways for each particular application. Various components and blocks may be arranged differently (e.g., arranged in a different order, or partitioned in a different way) all without departing from the scope of the subject technology.

[0109] It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an illustration of example approaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged. Some of the steps may be performed simultaneously. The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

[0110] The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The previous description provides various examples of the subject technology, and the subject technology is not limited to these examples. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., her and its) and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit the disclosure described herein.

[0111] The predicate words “configured to”, “operable to”, and “programmed to” do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of a subject, but, rather, are intended to be used interchangeably. For example, a processor configured to monitor and control an operation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed to monitor and control the operation or the processor being operable to monitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured to execute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute code or operable to execute code.

[0112] The term automatic, as used herein, may include performance by a computer or machine without user intervention; for example, by instructions responsive to a predicate actionby the computer or machine or other initiation mechanism. The word “example” is used herein to mean “serving as an example or illustration.” Any aspect or design described herein as “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.

[0113] A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. An aspect may provide one or more examples. A phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa. A phrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment is essential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to an embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments. An embodiment may provide one or more examples. A phrase such as an “embodiment” may refer to one or more embodiments and vice versa. A phrase such as a “configuration” does not imply that such configuration is essential to the subject technology or that such configuration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A configuration may provide one or more examples. A phrase such as a “configuration” may refer to one or more configurations and vice versa.

[0114] All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for”.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a timesensitive network (TSN) mechanism, comprising: a processor configured to: determine one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multipleantennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices; and provide the one or more TSN parameters to at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that a multiple-antennas configuration is determined based on the one or more TSN parameters.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3 GPP standard.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) functionality.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information related to multipleantennas functionality includes: information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points and the one or more user devices.

8. An apparatus configured to minimize inter-cell interference based on a timesensitive network (TSN) mechanism, comprising: a processor configured to: receive one or more TSN parameters that are determined based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices; and determine a multiple-antennas configuration for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as a TSN block in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3 GPP standard, wherein the apparatus resides in at least one of a core network of the wireless network and a radio access network (RAN) including the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) functionality.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset.

14. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the information related to multipleantennas functionality includes: information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points and the one or more user devices.

15. A method for minimizing inter-cell interference based on a time-sensitive network (TSN) mechanism, the method comprising: determining one or more TSN parameters based on information related to a multipleantennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices; providing the one or more TSN parameters for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points; and determining a multiple-antennas configuration for at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points based on the one or more TSN parameters such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as a TSN block in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the wireless network includes a network compatible with a 3 GPP standard.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of network points includes multiple antennas remotely distributed and coordinated.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the multiple-antennas configuration includes transmission power and individual antennas transmission scheduling information.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein the multiple-antennas functionality includes Coordinated multiple point (CoMP) functionality.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein the one or more TSN parameters include a TSN cycle time and a TSN offset.

21. The method according to claim 15, wherein the information related to multipleantennas functionality includes: information about a CoMP cooperating set and a CoMP measurement set for CoMP transmission between the group of the plurality of network points and the one or more user devices.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or more processors of an electronic device, the one or more programs including instructions for: receiving one or more TSN parameters that are determined based on information related to a multiple-antennas functionality of a plurality of network points in a wireless network, wherein a group of the plurality of network points configured to provide the multiple-antennas functionality to support wireless communication between the group of the plurality of network points and one or more user devices; and determining a multiple-antennas configuration for at least a subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points such that at least the subgroup of the group of the plurality of network points is configured as a TSN block in a TSN network to operate multiple-antennas transmission based on the multiple-antenna configuration.

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