Transmission configuration indication state activation in level 1 or level 2 triggered mobility

Abstract

A method performed by a user equipment including receiving in a first message a configuration indicating, for a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state identifier, ID, and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID, for a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell The method further includes receiving in a second message an indication of at least one TCI state ID of the TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, and activating a TCI state using a RS ID that is associated by the mapping with the TCI state ID indicated by the second message.

Description

TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION INDICATION STATE ACTIVATION IN LEVEL 1 OR LEVEL 2 TRIGGERED MOBILITY TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and more particularly to communication methods and related devices and nodes supporting wireless communications. BACKGROUND

[0002] An antenna port is defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed.

[0003] Two antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located (QCL) if the large-scale properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed. The large-scale properties include one or more of delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters. Since a channel is estimated using a reference signal, two reference signals can also be said to be quasi co-located.

[0004] The network can signal to the UE that two antenna ports are QCL. If the UE knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter, the UE can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and use that estimate when receiving the other antenna port. For instance, if antenna ports A and B are QCL with respect to average delay, the UE can estimate the average delay from the signal received from antenna port A and assume that the signal received from antenna port B has the same average delay. The UE could then use the estimated average delay when demodulating signals at antenna port B.

[0005] Information about what assumptions can be made regarding QCL is signalled to the UE from the network. In NR, four types of QCL relations between a transmitted source RS and transmitted target RS were defined: ^ Type A: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread} ^ Type B: {Doppler shift, Doppler spread} ^ Type C: {average delay, Doppler shift} ^ Type D: {Spatial Rx parameter}

[0006] QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management with analog beamforming and is known as spatial QCL.

[0007] The QCL information is conveyed to the UE in TCI (Transmission configuration indication) states using RRC signaling, which may be according to what is shown below for content of legacy TCI state IE: TCI-State ::= SEQUENCE { tci-StateId TCI-StateId, qcl-Type1 QCL-Info, qcl-Type2 QCL-Info OPTIONAL, -- Need R ..., [[ additionalPCI-r17 AdditionalPCIIndex-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Cond JointTCI1 ul-powerControl-r17 Uplink-powerControlId-r17 OPTIONAL -- Cond JointTCI ]] } QCL-Info ::= SEQUENCE { cell ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R bwp-Id BWP-Id OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated referenceSignal CHOICE { csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, ssb SSB-Index }, qcl-Type ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}, ... }

[0008] The UE is configured with TCI states, and each TCI state carries the QCL information the UE uses to receive a target reference signal, e.g., a PDCCH DMRS. The reference signals in the TCI state may be called QCL sources, and sometimes the TCI state itself is called a QCL source.

[0009] A TCI state can then be activated using MAC CE signaling. Once a TCI state is activated, the UE should be prepared to receive any reference signal that has the activated TCI state as QCL source. This may mean that the UE estimates the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, or spatial Rx parameter based on the reference signals in the activated TCI state.

[0010] Figure 1 illustrates content of legacy MAC CE activation. It is noted that the TCI state ID is provided as a 7-bit field, which refers to the tci-StateId in the RRC IE depicted in Figure 1.

[0011] L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility in Rel-18 is now discussed herein.

[0012] In 3GPP Release 18, a work item known as Further NR mobility enhancements has been agreed. This work item includes a technical area entitled L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility. According to the Work Item Description, WID [1], when the UE moves from the coverage area of one cell to another cell, at some point a serving cell change needs to be performed. Currently serving cell change is triggered by L3 measurements and is done by RRC signalling triggered Reconfiguration with Synchronisation for change of PCell and PSCell, as well as release add for SCells when applicable. All cases involve complete L2 (and L1) resets, leading to longer latency, larger overhead and longer interruption time than beam switch mobility. The goal of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility is to enable a serving cell change via L1 / L2 signalling, in order to reduce the latency, overhead and interruption time.

[0013] In this work item, according to the WID [1], the following is included as one objective of the work: 1. To specify mechanism and procedures of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility for mobility latency reduction: o Configuration and maintenance for multiple candidate cells to allow fast application of configurations for candidate cells [RAN2, RAN3] o Dynamic switch mechanism among candidate serving cells (including SpCell and SCell) for the potential applicable scenarios based on L1 / L2 signalling [RAN2, RAN1]o L1 enhancements for inter-cell beam management, including L1 measurement and reporting, and beam indication [RAN1, RAN2] ^ Note 1: Early RAN2 involvement is necessary, including the possibility of further clarifying the interaction between this bullet with the previous bullet o Timing Advance management [RAN1, RAN2] o CU-DU interface signaling to support L1 / L2 mobility, if needed [RAN3] Note 2: FR2 specific enhancements are not precluded, if any. Note 3: The procedure of L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility are applicable to the following scenarios: ^ Standalone, CA and NR-DC case with serving cell change within one CG ^ Intra-DU case and intra-CU inter-DU case (applicable for Standalone and CA: no new RAN interfaces are expected) ^ Both intra-frequency and inter-frequency ^ Both FR1 and FR2 ^ Source and target cells may be synchronized or non-synchronized

[0014] In 3GPP, discussions have started on solutions for L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility (sometimes also referred to as LTM, L1 / L2-triggered mobility or lower layer-triggered mobility).

[0015] A basic principle with L1 / L2-triggered mobility (LTM) is that the UE is pre- configured, by the network, with an RRC configuration per LTM candidate cell, sometimes also known as a LTM candidate cell configuration. Such a LTM candidate cell configuration may be provided in an RRCReconfiguration message (e.g., delta signaling associated to a reference configuration or the UE’s current configuration) or one or more IEs / fields / parameters such as CellGroupConfig. The UE performs L1 measurements (e.g., CSI measurements, such as SS-RSRP, L1 RSRP per SSB) on these LTM candidate cells and transmits corresponding L1 measurement reports to the network (e.g. on PUCCH and / or PUSCH). The network then triggers the execution of a LTM cell switch in the UE to one of these LTM candidate cells by transmitting an LTM cell switch command (such as a MAC CE), to the UE, which then connects to the particular LTM candidate cell and switches to an RRC configuration of this LTM candidate cell.

[0016] In the area of beam indication management to reduce latency for L1 / L2-triggered mobility, 3GPP RAN1 has made, among others, these agreements:Agreement - Adopt Alt.2 for beam indication of target cell(s) and TCI state activation for candidate cell(s) (if supported) , - Alt.1: By indicating RS identifier, i.e. mapping between RS identifier and Rel-17 unified TCI state is done by a UE - Alt.2: By indicating Rel-17 TCI state index Agreement From RAN1 point of view, at least the following information can be included in the cell switch command, which is conveyed by MAC CE Information to identify the target cell(s) ^ The details including bit number are designed by RAN2 TA related information (details up to the discussion in A.I.9.10.2) ^ 1 joint or 1 pair of UL and DL unified TCI State index for the target Cell ^ Note: discussion on target SpCell is not precluded ^ Active DL and UL BWPs for the target cell ^ FFS: Triggering of aperiodic TRS transmitted from the target cell ^ FFS: Triggering the CSI acquisition of the target cell and reporting to the target cell ^ FFS: Triggering of aperiodic SRS transmission to the target cell ^ FFS: C-RNTI - FFS: the presence of each field (i.e. always present or configurable) Agreement For the Rel-17 unified TCI based beam indication in Rel-18 LTM, at least Alt 1 is supported: ^ Alt 1: TCI state activation of a candidate cell is received before the reception of beam indication of the candidate cell, ^ Alt 2: TCI state activation of a candidate cell is received together with the reception of beam indication of the candidate cell oFFS: signalling details for TCI state indication, if both activation and indication are done in the same MAC CE message carrying switch command ^ Alt 3: Alt 1 and / or Alt 2 can be supported based on the UE capability FFS: signalling details for TCI state activation FFS: For Alt 1, whether / how TCI state activation for candidate cell(s) is allowedNote: If scenarios 1 and 3 are to be supported other beam indication / TCI activation timing relationships are not precluded. SUMMARY

[0017] There currently exist certain challenge(s). Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. RAN1 has agreed that a TCI state index (or some form of TCI identifier) will be included in the LTM cell-switch command (i.e. MAC CE indicating the UE to perform LTM cell switch to an LTM candidate cell), with the intention that the UE identifies a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell during LTM cell switch. In addition, RAN1 has also agreed that the UE may receive the indication of a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell even before the LTM cell switch command is received. However, in either of these cases, the UE cannot unambiguously determine the TCI state, or the reference signals associated to the TCI state configuration, based on only the TCI state index.

[0018] The following embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s): 1) facilitate UE identification of a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell during LTM cell switch; and / or 2) enable the UE to determine the TCI state, or the reference signals associated to the TCI state configuration, based on only the TCI state index.

[0019] Some embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a method performed by a user equipment including receiving in a first message a configuration indicating, for a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state identifier, ID, and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID, for a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell. The method further includes receiving in a second message an indication of at least one TCI state ID of the TCI state of the LTM candidate cell, and activating a TCI state using a RS ID that is associated by the mapping with the TCI state ID indicated by the second message.

[0020] Some other embodiments are directed to a method performed by a network node including receiving for a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID (e.g., TCI state ID) and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID(s)). The method further includes transmitting, to a user equipment, a first message containing a configuration indicating for the LTM candidate cell the mapping between the at least one TCI ID and the at least one RS ID.

[0021] Some other embodiments are directed to a method performed by a network node including transmitting a request to configure the a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell. The method further includes receiving, for a LTM candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID.

[0022] Some other embodiments are directed to a method performed by a network node including receiving a request to configure a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell including one or more indications of LTM candidate cells. The method further includes transmitting, for at least one LTM candidate cell indicated in the request, a response including a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID.

[0023] Other methods implemented by UEs and network nodes and corresponding UEs and networks will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon review of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional methods and corresponding UEs and network nodes be included within this description, be within the scope of the present inventive subject matter, and be protected by the accompanying claims. Moreover, it is intended that all embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented individually or combined in any way and / or combination. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

[0025] Figure 1 illustrates content of legacy MAC CE activation;

[0026] Figure 2 illustrates components of a system structure which are configured to operate in accordance with some embodiments;

[0027] Figure 3 illustrates a signaling flow between CU, S-DU and C-DU for the case in which the TCI state ID for an LTM candidate is included in the LTM cell switch command, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0028] Figure 4 illustrates a signaling flow between CU, S-DU and C-DU for the case in which the TCI state ID for an LTM candidate is included in a MAC CE received by the UE for pre-activating a TCI state before the reception of an LTM cell switch command, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0029] Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of operations that can be performed by a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0030] Figure 6 illustrates a flowchart of operations that can be performed by a network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0031] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0032] Figure 8 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0033] Figure 9 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0034] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host, which may be an embodiment of the host of Figure 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0035] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and

[0036] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0038] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s): 1) facilitate UE identification of a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell during LTM cell switch; and / or 2) enable the UE to determine the TCI state, or the reference signals associated to the TCI state configuration, based on only the TCI state index.

[0039] The text refers to the term “L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility” as used in the Work Item Description in 3GPP, though it interchangeably also uses the terms L1 / L2 mobility, L1- mobility, L1 based mobility, L1 / L2-centric inter-cell mobility, L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility, Lower-layer triggered Mobility or LTM. Accordingly, each use of one of these terms in the description herein may be substituted with any of these other interchanging terms. Accordingly, each use of one of these terms in the description herein may be substituted with any of these other interchanging terms. The basic principle of various embodiments is that the UE receives a lower layer signaling from the network indicating to theUE a change (or switch or activation) of its serving cell (e.g. change of PCell, from a source to a target PCell), wherein a lower layer signaling is a message / signaling of a lower layer protocol, which may be referred as a L1 / L2 inter-cell mobility execution command or LTM cell switch command. The change of serving cell (e.g. change of PCell) may also lead to a change in Scell(s) for the same cell group e.g. in case the command triggers the UE to change to another cell group configuration of the same type (e.g. another MCG configuration). Before the UE receives the LTM cell switch command, the UE is configured by the network with one or more LTM candidate cell configurations (e.g. reception of an RRC Reconfiguration message, with at least one LTM candidate cell configuration) A LTM candidate cell configuration may include parameters in the IE CellGroupConfig for an LTM candidate cell and / or an embedded RRC Reconfiguration for an LTM candidate cell.

[0040] The term LTM cell switch procedure refers to the process of a UE switching (or changing) its cell from a source cell to a target cell (which may be called here an LTM candidate cell or a neighbour cell), using L1 / L2-triggered mobility (LTM). In the context of L1 / L2- triggered mobility (LTM), an LTM cell switch procedure may sometimes also be known as L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility execution, LTM execution, dynamic switch, LTM switch, (LTM) cell switch, (LTM) serving cell change or (LTM) cell change. In the context of some embodiments, switching to the LTM candidate cell configuration comprises the UE considering that an LTM candidate cell becomes its new special cell (SpCell) e.g. PCell in case of LTM being configured for a Master Cell Group (MCG) and / or PSCell in case of LTM being configured for a Secondary Cell Group (SCG); or, changing its SpCell from the current PCell to an LTM candidate cell.

[0041] Even if the term switch or change of cells is used, that may comprise a switch or change of a whole cell group configuration, which includes a change in the SpCell (e.g. change of PCell, or change of PSCell), a change in SCells of the cell group (e.g., addition, modification and / or release of one or more SCells) or a swap between SpCell and SCell roles for two cells (e.g. as result of the switch or change, a first cell which was SpCell becomes an SCell and a second cell that was an SCell becomes the new SpCell).

[0042] The text refers to a LTM candidate cell, which is a cell the UE is configured with when configured with L1 / L2-triggered mobility. That is a cell the UE can move to in a LTM cell switch procedure, upon reception of a LTM cell switch command. Such cells may also be called candidate cell(s), candidates, mobility candidates, non-serving cells, additional cells, target candidate cell, target candidate, etc. A LTM candidate cell is a cell the UE may perform measurements on (e.g., CSI measurements) so that the UE reports these measurements andnetwork may take educated decision on which beam (e.g. TCI state) and / or cell the UE is to be switched to. An LTM candidate cell may be a candidate to be a target PCell or PSCell, or an SCell of a cell group (e.g., MCG SCell or a SCG SCell).

[0043] The text refers to at least one LTM candidate cell configuration and that the UE has received at least one LTM candidate cell configuration. This is also sometimes referred to as a configuration of a LTM candidate cell, which may be an RRC configuration, such as encapsulated in an RRC Reconfiguration message, that the UE receives when being configured with L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility. A LTM candidate cell configuration comprises the configuration which the UE needs to start to operate accordingly when it performs an LTM cell switch procedure to that LTM candidate cell e.g. upon reception of the LTM cell switch command to that LTM candidate cell, which becomes the target cell and the current (new) SpCell, or an SCell in a serving frequency. The LTM candidate cell configuration comprises parameters of a serving cell (or multiple serving cells, such as a cell group), comprising one or more of the groups of parameters, such as an RRCReconfiguration message an IE CellGroupConfig or an IE SpCellConfig (or the IE SCellConfig, in the case of a Secondary Cell). A LTM candidate cell configuration may in one example comprise one or more of: i) the PCell configuration and one or more SCell configuration(s) of a Master Cell Group (MCG); i) the PSCell configuration and one or more SCell configuration(s) of a secondary Cell Group (SCG). The terms (LTM) candidate configuration, LTM configuration, (LTM) candidate target cell configuration, (LTM) target candidate (cell) configuration may be used interchangeably when referring to LTM candidate cell configuration. The actual LTM candidate cell configuration and its exact content and / or structure of this IE and / or embedded message may be called an RRC model for the candidate configuration, or simply RRC model. An LTM candidate cell configuration comprises the configuration which the UE needs to operate accordingly when it performs (executes) L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility execution to a LTM candidate cell, upon reception of the lower layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to a LTM candidate cell (which becomes the target cell and the current (new) PCell, or an SCell in a serving frequency), or upon reception of the lower layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to a LTM candidate cell configuration indicated with a candidate configuration identifier, identity or index (sometimes also denoted candidate configuration ID). The UE may be configured with multiple LTM candidate cell configurations, so a Candidate DU (C-DU) generates and sends to the CU multiple configuration(s). The actual LTM candidate cell configuration the UE receives during the LTM configuration may be a delta signaling to be applied on top of a reference configuration, so thatthe actual configuration the UE is to use in the LTM candidate cell upon LTM cell switch is the combination of the LTM candidate cell configuration and the reference configuration (e.g. separately signaled by the network to the UE). That combination of the LTM candidate cell configuration and the reference configuration the UE uses may also be called a complete LTM candidate cell configuration. For the context of the invention, unless stated otherwise, this complete LTM candidate cell configuration may also be considered as an LTM candidate cell configuration.

[0044] The text refers to at least one LTM preparation configuration, which may be an RRC configuration, such as encapsulated in an RRC Reconfiguration message, that the UE receives when being configured with L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility. A LTM preparation configuration comprises parameters the UE may use before executing an LTM cell switch procedure, i.e., before the UE performs (executes) L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility execution to a LTM candidate cell, upon reception of the lower layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to a LTM candidate cell (which becomes the target cell and the current (new) PCell, or an SCell in a serving frequency), or upon reception of the lower layer signaling (MAC CE) indicating a L1 / L2 based inter-cell mobility to a LTM candidate cell configuration indicated with a candidate configuration identifier, identity or index (sometimes also denoted candidate configuration ID).

[0045] The text refers to serving cell. A serving cell is a cell configured for the UE for example an SpCell, PCell, PSCell or SCell.

[0046] The text refers to source cell and target cell. A source cell is a cell configured as a serving cell for the UE prior to the execution of the LTM cell switch procedure. A target cell is a cell configured as a serving cell, for example an SpCell, PCell, PSCell or SCell, for the UE after, or as a result of, the execution of the LTM cell switch procedure, which may include a cell indicated in the LTM cell switch command indicating to the UE the LTM cell switch procedure or a cell configured as result of the UE switching to the LTM candidate cell configuration provided by an indication of an LTM candidate cell configuration, also sometimes known as a candidate configuration index, an LTM configuration index or an LTM candidate cell index, in the LTM cell switch command .In the context of a LTM cell switch procedure executed by the UE, given cell may be either a source cell, a target cell, both a source cell and target cell or neither a source cell nor a target cell.

[0047] The text refers to source configuration, which may be the UE configuration when receiving the LTM cell switch command indicating to the UE the LTM cell switch procedure.

[0048] The term LTM UL pre-synchronization refers to a network-initiated process to obtain the TA value for one or more LTM candidate cells. The network may initiate the LTM UL pre-synchronization by sending a lower-layer signal, e.g., a PDCCH order, to the UE. The lower-layer signal may contain an indication to a configuration. The configuration includes the information needed by the UE to perform the UL signalling for TA value acquisition procedure (e.g., information needed to transmit a preamble), such as: ^ a random access preamble index (e.g. ra-PreambleIndex of IE INTEGER (0..63)) ^ at least one identifier of a downlink reference signal, to obtain the downlink timing of the LTM candidate cell.

[0049] The term TCI state activation refers to process in the UE, where the UE prepares to receive a first reference signal. The first reference signal may be a CSI-RS, a PDCCH DMRS, or a PDSCH DMRS. The preparation comprises receiving a second reference signal, which is associated with the activated TCI state. The preparation may include estimating the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, or spatial Rx parameter of the second reference signal, and adjusting the UE receiver based on these estimates. In some cases, the preparation comprises receiving a third reference signal, which is associated with the activated TCI state. The preparation may include estimating the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, or spatial Rx parameter of the third reference signal, and adjusting the UE receiver based on these estimates. The second and third reference signal may be an SSB, a CSI-RS, a PDCCH DMRS, or a PDSCH DMRS. The configuration of the TCI state includes the identities of the second and third reference signal, and for each of the second and third reference signal, which of the parameters Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, or spatial Rx parameter can be estimated from the corresponding reference signal.

[0050] A system overview is not discussed herein.

[0051] Figure 2 illustrates components of a system structure which are configured to operate in accordance with some embodiments. The User Equipment (UE) 1001 is a wireless terminal, such as a cellular smartphone, sometimes connected to the source network node 1002 over a wireless interface 1004 and sometimes connected to a target network node 1003, to which the UE 1001 is connected over a wireless interface 1005.

[0052] In the context of a mobility procedure, such as a LTM cell switch procedure, for the UE, the source network node 1002, sometimes also referred to as the serving network node, controls a source cell 1009 (sometimes called serving cell or Special Cell (SpCell). The target network node 1003 controls a target cell 1010 (sometimes called neighbour cell, candidate cellor LTM candidate cell). Each of source network node 1002 and the target network node 1003 may be a base station such as e.g. gNB, or, e.g. in case of a distributed CU / DU RAN architecture, a distributed unit, sometimes known as either gNB-DU or DU. Hence the source network node 1002 corresponds to a source DU, S-DU, sometimes also known as serving DU, and the target network node 1003 corresponds to a target DU. T-DU (sometimes called neighbour DU or candidate DU, C-DU). Both the source network node 1002 and the target network node 1003 are connected to a third network node 1006, sometime also referred to as serving network node. The source network node and the target network node may be the same network node. In some scenarios the source network node 1002 and the target network node 1003 may be connected to different third network nodes 1006.

[0053] Further, the third network node 1006 may, e.g. in case of a distributed CU / DU RAN architecture, be a central unit, CU, sometimes referred to as the serving CU, known as either a gNB-CU, CU, gNB-CU-CP or gNB-CU-UP, or a core network node such as an User Plane Function, UPF or an Access and Mobility management Function, AMF.

[0054] Some main embodiments of the present disclosure are now discussed herein.

[0055] Some embodiments are directed to SSB and MAC CE.

[0056] Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of operations that can be performed by a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0057] Some embodiments are directed to a method performed by a user equipment. The method includes receiving 500 in a first message a configuration indicating, for a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state identifier, ID, and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID, for a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell. The method also includes receiving 502 in a second message an indication of at least one TCI state ID of the TCI state of the LTM candidate cell. The method also includes activating 504 a TCI state using a RS ID that is associated by the mapping with the TCI state ID indicated by the second message. In this embodiment and in some others, the terms “Level” and “Layer” may be used interchangeably.

[0058] In some embodiments, the configuration indicates a LTM candidate configuration ID. Additionally, the activating of the TCI state further uses the LTM candidate configuration ID to identify the mapping.

[0059] In some embodiments, the activating of the TCI state comprises initiating beam management for the LTM candidate cell using a RS relationship associated with the RS ID for at least one of: Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, and a Spatial Rx parameter.

[0060] In some embodiments, the at least one RS ID is at least one Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID. In some embodiments, the receiving the mapping between the at least one TCI state ID and the at least one SSB ID is associated to the LTM candidate cell by indicating an LTM candidate ID outside an LTM candidate cell configuration.

[0061] In some embodiments, the first message is a Radio Resource Control, RRC, message. Additionally, the second message is a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, for LTM execution or is a MAC CE before LTM execution.

[0062] In other words, one of these sets of embodiments, the UE receives in an RRC message (e.g. RRCReconfiguration) a configuration indicating for an LTM candidate cell a mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one SSB ID e.g. [ (TCI state ID=1, SSB ID=x1); (TCI state ID=2, SSB ID=x2); … (TCI state ID=k, SSB ID=xk)]. Then, in a subsequent message, which may be a lower layer message (e.g., MAC CE for LTM execution, or a MAC CE before the LTM execution) the UE receives an indication, e.g., the TCI state ID, of at least one the configured TCI state(s). Based on the TCI state ID and the configured mapping the UE activates the TCI state associated with the TCI state ID.

[0063] In some embodiments, the configuration is received in the first message as part of an LTM preparation configuration in a LTM-Config information element, IE, within RRCReconfiguration.

[0064] In other words, the mapping between the TCI state ID and one SSB ID may be part of an LTM preparation configuration (e.g., LTM-Config IE within the RRCReconfiguration the UE applies when configuring LTM) where LTM-related configurations are provided to the UE, but such LTM-related configuration do not necessary include an LTM candidate cell configuration (i.e., the LTM candidate cell configuration to be applied in the LTM cell switch procedure). Therefore, the LTM preparation configuration (i.e., including the mapping between the TCI state ID and one SSB ID) and the actual LTM candidate cell configurations are provided in a disjoint manner (i.e., LTM preparation configuration may come at a later moment than an LTM candidate cell configuration).

[0065] The UE receives the mapping between TCI state ID(s) and SSB ID(s) per LTM candidate cell, i.e., associated to an LTM candidate cell by also indicating an LTM candidate ID, but outside the LTM candidate cell configuration (i.e., outside the ltm-CandidateConfig of IE RRCReconfiguration in the OCTET STRING to be applied only in LTM cell switch upon reception of the LTM cell switch command).

[0066] In the subsequent message, together with the TCI state ID, the UE receives also a LTM candidate configuration ID so that the UE can identify to which LTM candidate cellconfiguration the TCI state ID refer to. This means that when the UE receives the mapping between TCI state ID and SSB ID, for each of the mapping provided it is also provided the LTM candidate cell configuration (index) to which this mapping belongs to.

[0067] Some embodiments are directed to CSI-RS and MAC CE

[0068] In some embodiments, the at least one RS ID is at least one CSI-RS resource ID.

[0069] In other words, in one set of embodiments the UE receives in an RRC message a configuration indicating for an LTM candidate cell a mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID. Then, in a subsequent message (e.g., MAC CE for LTM execution, or a MAC CE before the LTM execution) the UE receives an indication, e.g., the TCI STATE ID, of at least one of the configured TCI state(s). Based on the TCI state ID and the configured mapping the UE activates the TCI state associated with the TCI state ID.

[0070] The mapping between the TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID may be part of an LTM preparation configuration where LTM-related configurations are provided to the UE, but such LTM-related configuration do not necessary include an LTM candidate cell configuration. Therefore, the LTM preparation configuration (i.e., including the mapping between the TCI state ID and one CSR-RS resource ID) and the actual LTM candidate cell configurations are provided in a disjoint manner (i.e., LTM preparation configuration may come at a later moment than an LTM candidate cell configuration). In other words, the UE receives the mapping between TCI state ID(s) and CSI-RS resource ID per LTM candidate cell, i.e., associated to an LTM candidate cell by also indicating an LTM candidate ID, but outside the LTM candidate cell configuration (i.e., outside the ltm-CandidateConfig of IE RRCReconfiguration in the OCTET STRING to be applied only in LTM cell switch upon reception of the LTM cell switch command).

[0071] In some embodiments, the configuration indicates for the LTM candidate cell a first mapping between the least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and a SSB, ID.

[0072] In other words, in one set of embodiments the UE receives in an RRC message a configuration indicating for an LTM candidate cell a first mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and an SSB ID. Then, in a subsequent message (e.g., MAC CE for LTM execution, or a MAC CE before the LTM execution) the UE receives an indication of at least one of the configured TCI state(s), e.g., the TCI state ID. Based on the TCI state ID, and the configured first and second mappings the UE the UE activates the TCI state associated with the TCI state ID.

[0073] The first mapping between the TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID and the second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and one SSB ID may be part of an LTM preparation configuration where LTM-related configurations are provided to the UE, but such LTM-related configuration do not necessary include an LTM candidate cell configuration. Therefore, the LTM preparation configuration (i.e., including the first mapping between the TCI state ID and one CSR-RS resource ID, and the second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and one SSB ID) and the actual LTM candidate cell configurations are provided in a disjoint manner (i.e., LTM preparation configuration may come at a later moment than an LTM candidate cell configuration). In other words, the UE receives the first mapping between TCI state ID(s) and CSI-RS resource ID and the mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and one SSB ID per LTM candidate cell, i.e., associated to an LTM candidate cell by also indicating an LTM candidate ID, but outside the LTM candidate cell configuration (i.e., outside the ltm- CandidateConfig of IE RRCReconfiguration in the OCTET STRING to be applied only in LTM cell switch upon reception of the LTM cell switch command).

[0074] In the subsequent message, together with the TCI state ID, the UE receives also a LTM candidate configuration ID so that the UE can identify to which LTM candidate cell configuration the TCI state ID refer to. This means that when the UE receives the mapping between TCI state ID and CSI-RS resource ID, for each of the mapping provided it is also provided the LTM candidate cell configuration (index) to which this mapping belongs to.

[0075] In some embodiments, the method performed by a UE further includes providing user data and forwarding the user data to a host via a transmission to a network node.

[0076] Some embodiments are directed to the network side.

[0077] Figure 6 illustrates a flowchart of operations that can be performed by a network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0078] Some embodiments are directed to a method performed by a network node. The method includes receiving (600) for an LTM candidate cell, a mapping between at least one TCI ID and at least one RS ID. The method also includes transmitting (602), to a user equipment, a first message containing a configuration indicating for the LTM candidate cell the mapping between the at least one TCI ID and the at least one RS ID.

[0079] In some embodiments, the configuration indicates a LTM candidate configuration ID.

[0080] In some embodiments, the at least one RS ID is at least one SSB ID.

[0081] In some embodiments, the first message is a RRC message. Additionally, the method further includes transmitting a second message containing an indication of at least one TCI state ID.

[0082] In some embodiments, the second message is a MAC CE for LTM execution or is a MAC CE before LTM execution.

[0083] In some embodiments, the configuration is transmitted in the first message as part of an LTM preparation configuration in a LTM-Config IE within RRCReconfiguration.

[0084] In some embodiments, the at least one RS ID is at least one CSI-RS resource ID.

[0085] In some embodiments, the configuration indicates for the LTM candidate cell a first mapping between the least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and a SSB ID.

[0086] In other words, at the network side, the mapping between TCI state ID(s) and SSB ID(s) (or in more general terms, between TCI ID(s) and RS ID(s) and / or multiple mapping e.g. between TCI state ID=x1CSI-RS resource ID=a; and CSI-RS resource ID=a ^ TCI state ID=x2: TCID ID=x2SSB ID=b, meaning that TCI state ID=x1 corresponds to SSB ID=b) for a given LTM candidate cell is transmitted from a Candidate DU (C-DU) to the CU (to be forwarded to the UE) associated to the LTM candidate cell, to the CU.

[0087] In one option the mapping is transmitted in response to a request from the CU to configure the LTM candidate cell. For example, the CU transmits a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST or a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST including one or more indications of cell(s) e.g. cell ID(s). The C-DU accepts all or a subset of the indicated cells and transmits to the CU, for at least one LTM candidate cell which is accepted, the mapping between TCI state ID and SSB ID (or RS ID) e.g. in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE.

[0088] In some embodiments, the first message is transmitted in response to a request from a CU to configure the LTM candidate cell.

[0089]

[0090] In some embodiments, the first message is transmitted in response to a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST OR A UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST.

[0091] In some embodiments, the CU indicates in the request that the CU intends to activate TCI states before a LTM cell switch.

[0092] In some embodiments, the configuration of the first message is transmitted in a RRC container.

[0093] In some embodiments, the method performed by the network node further includes obtaining user data and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.

[0094] In other words, in one option, the CU indicates in the request for configuring LTM to the C-DU (e.g. in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST or the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST) that it intends to activate TCI states before the LTM cell switch, e.g., for at least one LTM candidate cell. In response to that indication, the C-DU includes the mapping in response, e.g., per LTM candidate cell, in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE or the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE.

[0095] In one option the mapping is transmitted by the C-DU to the CU in an RRC container, in addition to the RRC container which includes the lower layer LTM candidate configuration (CellGroupConfig for the LTM candidate cell).

[0096] Upon reception of the mapping (e.g. in the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE or the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE) the CU indicates that mapping to the S- DU e.g. [(TCI state ID=y, SSB ID=x); (TCI state ID=z, SSB ID=w)] for an LTM candidate cell A. The S-DU may need the mapping to be able to transmit to the UE a TCI state ID for an LTM candidate cell, wherein the TCI state ID corresponds to an SSB ID of an SSB whose measurements have been reported by the UE. For example, if the UE reports for an LTM candidate cell A and SSB Id=x which indicates that such an SSB has a much stronger RSRP compared to the strongest SSB of the UE’s serving cell (e.g. PCell), the S-DU may want to trigger an LTM cell switch to the LTM candidate cell A, and activate the TCI state ID associated to the SSB Id=x. Thanks to the mapping the S-DU has received, the S-DU may indicate to the UE in the LTM cell switch command for cell A the TCI state ID=y, associated tot eh reported SSB ID=x.

[0097] For example, if the UE reports for an LTM candidate cell A and SSB Id=x which indicates that such an SSB has is getting a stronger RSRP compared to the strongest SSB of the UE’s serving cell (e.g. PCell), the S-DU may want to trigger an early activation of the TCI state of that LTM candidate cell A, and activate the TCI state ID associated to the SSB Id=x. Thanks to the mapping the S-DU has received, the S-DU may indicate to the UE in the LTM cell switch command for cell A the TCI state ID=y, associated tot eh reported SSB ID=x.

[0098] The CU transmits to the S-DU the mapping between TCI State ID(s) and SSB ID(s) (e.g. [(TCI state ID=y, SSB ID=x); (TCI state ID=z, SSB ID=w)] for an LTM candidate cell A) in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST. That may be triggered after the CU has received the mapping from the C-DU for an LTM candidate cell.

[0099] In one option, the S-DU includes the TCI state mapping in the UE’s current CellGroupConfig, which is included in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICAITON RESPONSE to the CU. In response to that UE CONTEXT MODIFICAITON RESPONSE, the CU includes the CellGroupConfig (including the TCI State mapping) in the RRCReconfiguration which is to be provided to the UE, for configuring the UE with LTM. The CU then transmits that Reconfiguration to the S-DU (in an RRC DL MESSAGE TRANSFER) and the S-DU transmits it to the UE.

[0100] In another option, the TCI state mapping per LTM candidate is configured outside the UE’s current CellGroupConfig i.e. it is not the S-DU which configures the UE with the TCI state mapping. Instead, the CU includes the TCI state mapping for an LTM candidate cell in the in the RRCReconfiguration which is to be provided to the UE, for configuring the UE with LTM. In one example, the mapping is provided as follows, within each LTM-Candidate IE, associated to an LTM candidate cell, but still outside the ltm-CandidateConfig, so that the UE would not need to decide. LTM-Candidate-r18 ::= SEQUENCE { ltm-CandidateId-r18 LTM-CandidateId-r18, ltm-CandidateConfig-r18 OCTET STRING (CONTAINING RRCReconfiguration), ... / / mapping betweeen TCI state ID(s) and SSB ID(s) for the LTM candidate cell indicated / / by ltm-CandidateId-r18 ltm-Candidate-Tci-States-ToAddModList-r18 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofCellsLTM- r18)) OF LTM-Candidate-Tci-States-r18 }

[0101] Figure 3 illustrates a signaling flow between CU, S-DU and C-DU for the case in which the TCI state ID for an LTM candidate is included in the LTM cell switch command, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0102] Figure 4 illustrates a signaling flow between CU, S-DU and C-DU for the case in which the TCI state ID for an LTM candidate is included in a MAC CE received by the UE for pre-activating a TCI state before the reception of an LTM cell switch command, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0103] Thanks to that signaling structure the UE determines the mapping without the need to decode the LTM candidate cell configuration (ltm-CandidateConfig-r18 of IE OCTET STRING (CONTAINING RRCReconfiguration).

[0104] One benefit of that is when the UE receives an indication of the TCI state to be activated (by receiving a TCI state ID associate to an LTM candidate ID) before the LTM cell switch command. Then, the UE can activate a TCI state of an LTM candidate cell without the need to process / decode the LTM candidate cell configuration, which saves UE processing and battery.

[0105] Another benefit of that is when the UE receives an indication of the TCI state to be activated (by receiving a TCI state ID associate to an LTM candidate ID) in the LTM cell switch command. The UE may need to anyways process / decode the LTM candidate cell configuration during LTM cell switch, but the fact that the UE is aware of the mapping between TCI state ID and SSB ID to be activated, for the TCI state ID which needs to be activated, speeds up the process of the UE accessing the LTM candidate cell e.g. as the UE may synchronize with the LTM candidate cell and / or start to monitor the channels even before it processes the overall LTM candidate cell configuration.

[0106] SSB and PDCCH order (same mapping, but used “backwards”) are now discussed.

[0107] In one set of embodiments the UE receives in an RRC message a configuration indicating for an LTM candidate cell a mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one SSB ID. Then, in a subsequent message (e.g., a PDCCH order for LTM UL pre-synchronization) the UE receives an indication (e.g., an SSB ID). The UE activates a TCI state determined from the SSB ID and the configured mapping between the TCI state ID and SSB ID.

[0108] The mapping between the TCI state ID and one SSB ID may be part of an LTM preparation configuration (e.g., LTM-Config IE within the RRCReconfiguration the UE applies when configuring LTM) where LTM-related configurations are provided to the UE, but such LTM-related configuration do not necessary include an LTM candidate cell configuration (i.e., the LTM candidate cell configuration to be applied in the LTM cell switch procedure). Therefore, the LTM preparation configuration (i.e., including the mapping between the TCI state ID and one SSB ID) and the actual LTM candidate cell configurations are provided in a disjoint manner (i.e., LTM preparation configuration may come at a later moment than an LTM candidate cell configuration).

[0109] In the subsequent message, the UE receives also a LTM candidate configuration ID so that the UE can identify to which LTM candidate cell configuration the SSB ID refer to. This means that when the UE receives the mapping between TCI state ID and SSB ID, for each of the mapping provided it is also provided the LTM candidate cell configuration (index) to which this mapping belongs to.

[0110] CSI-RS and PDCCH order (same mapping, but used “backwards”) are now discussed.

[0111] In one set of embodiments the UE receives in an RRC message a configuration indicating for an LTM candidate cell a first mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and an SSB ID. Then, in a subsequent message (e.g., a PDCCH order for LTM UL pre-synchronization) the UE receives an indication, e.g., an SSB ID. Based on the SSB ID and the second mapping, the UE determines a CSI-RS resource ID. The UE activates a TCI state determined from said CSI- RS resource ID and the first mapping.

[0112] The first mapping between the TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID and the second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and one SSB ID may be part of an LTM preparation configuration where LTM-related configurations are provided to the UE, but such LTM-related configuration do not necessary include an LTM candidate cell configuration. Therefore, the LTM preparation configuration (i.e., including the first mapping between the TCI state ID and one CSR-RS resource ID, and the second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and one SSB ID) and the actual LTM candidate cell configurations are provided in a disjoint manner (i.e., LTM preparation configuration may come at a later moment than an LTM candidate cell configuration). In other words, the UE receives the first mapping between TCI state ID(s) and CSI-RS resource ID and the mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and one SSB ID per LTM candidate cell, i.e., associated to an LTM candidate cell by also indicating an LTM candidate ID, but outside the LTM candidate cell configuration (i.e., outside the ltm- CandidateConfig of IE RRCReconfiguration in the OCTET STRING to be applied only in LTM cell switch upon reception of the LTM cell switch command).

[0113] In the subsequent message, the UE receives also a LTM candidate configuration ID so that the UE can identify to which LTM candidate cell configuration the SSB ID refer to. This means that when the UE receives the mapping between TCI state ID, CSI-RS resource ID, and SSB ID, for each of the mapping provided it is also provided the LTM candidate cell configuration (index) to which this mapping belongs to.

[0114] Details of the mappings are now discussed.

[0115] In one embodiment, the mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one SSB ID or CSI-RS resource ID is conveyed in a TCI state, e.g., using an RRC IE: -- ASN1START -- TAG-TCI-STATE-STARTTCI-State ::= SEQUENCE { tci-StateId TCI-StateId, qcl-Type1 QCL-Info, qcl-Type2 QCL-Info OPTIONAL, -- Need ..., [[ additionalPCI-r17 AdditionalPCIIndex-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Cond JointTCI1 ul-powerControl-r17 Uplink-powerControlId-r17 OPTIONAL -- Cond JointTCI ]] } QCL-Info ::= SEQUENCE { cell ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R bwp-Id BWP-Id OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated referenceSignal CHOICE { csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, ssb SSB-Index }, qcl-Type ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}, ... } -- TAG-TCI-STATE-STOP -- ASN1STOP

[0116] In one embodiment, the mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and an SSB ID is conveyed in a combination of a CSI-RS resource and a TCI state, e.g., using the RRC IEs. -- ASN1START-- TAG-NZP-CSI-RS-RESOURCE-START NZP-CSI-RS-Resource ::= SEQUENCE { nzp-CSI-RS-ResourceId NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, resourceMapping CSI-RS-ResourceMapping, powerControlOffset INTEGER (-8..15), powerControlOffsetSS ENUMERATED{db-3, db0,OPTIONAL, -- Need R scramblingID ScramblingId, periodicityAndOffset CSI-ResourcePeriodicityAndOffset OPTIONAL, -- Cond PeriodicOrSemiPersistent qcl-InfoPeriodicCSI-RS TCI-StateId OPTIONAL, -- Cond Periodic ... } -- TAG-NZP-CSI-RS-RESOURCE-STOP -- ASN1STOP -- ASN1START -- TAG-TCI-STATE-START TCI-State ::= SEQUENCE { tci-StateId TCI-StateId, qcl-Type1 QCL-Info, qcl-Type2 QCL-Info OPTIONAL, -- Need ..., [[ additionalPCI-r17 AdditionalPCIIndex-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need R pathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 PathlossReferenceRS-Id-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Cond JointTCI1ul-powerControl-r17 Uplink-powerControlId-r17 OPTIONAL -- Cond JointTCI ]] } QCL-Info ::= SEQUENCE { cell ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R bwp-Id BWP-Id OPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RS-Indicated referenceSignal CHOICE { csi-rs NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, ssb SSB-Index }, qcl-Type ENUMERATED {typeA, typeB, typeC, typeD}, ... } -- TAG-TCI-STATE-STOP -- ASN1STOP

[0117] The above proposal provides a compact method to provide both the first and second mapping in the TCI state: the UE would find both the CSI-RS Resource Id, and the SSB index that would otherwise have to be signalled using an NZP-CSI-RS-Resource and a TCI state.

[0118] In other embodiments, the mapping is conveyed using a table, e.g., TCI state index SSB index 12 0 13 1 14 2 TCI state index CSI-RS resource index 12 0 13 114 2

[0119] In a related embodiment, the first mapping between at least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and the second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and an SSB ID are conveyed in one table: TCI state index SSB index CSI-RS resource index 12 0 4 13 1 5 14 2 6

[0120] This would allow a compact representation of the mapping between the TCI state ID, SSB ID and CSI-RS resource index.

[0121] In a set of preferred embodiments, the RRC configurations are signalled outside the LTM candidate cell configurations. In other words, the RRC configuration containing the mapping between TCI state ID and one or more SSB IDs and / or CSI-RS resource IDs is signalled in an RRC configuration different from the LTM candidate signal configuration. In another set of embodiments, the RRC configuration containing the mapping between TCI state ID and one or more SSB IDs and / or CSI-RS resource IDs is the LTM candidate cell configurations.

[0122] An example of this embodiment is provided as follow: – CellGroupConfig

[0123] The CellGroupConfig IE is used to configure a master cell group (MCG) or secondary cell group (SCG). A cell group comprises of one MAC entity, a set of logical channels with associated RLC entities and of a primary cell (SpCell) and one or more secondary cells (SCells). CellGroupConfig information element -- ASN1START -- TAG-CELLGROUPCONFIG-START -- Configuration of one Cell-Group: CellGroupConfig ::= SEQUENCE { cellGroupId CellGroupId,rlc-BearerToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxLC-ID)) OF RLC-BearerConfig OPTIONAL, -- Need N rlc-BearerToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxLC-ID)) OF LogicalChannelIdentity OPTIONAL, -- Need N mac-CellGroupConfig MAC- CellGroupConfig OPTIONAL, -- Need M physicalCellGroupConfig PhysicalCellGroupConfig OPTIONAL, -- Need M spCellConfig SpCellConfig OPTIONAL, -- Need M sCellToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSCells)) OF SCellConfig OPTIONAL, -- Need N sCellToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofSCells)) OF SCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need N ..., [[ reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Cond BWP-Reconfig ]], [[ bap-Address-r16 BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL, -- Need M bh-RLC-ChannelToAddModList-r16 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxBH-RLC-ChannelID-r16)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelConfig-r16 OPTIONAL, -- Need N bh-RLC-ChannelToReleaseList-r16 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxBH-RLC-ChannelID-r16)) OF BH-RLC-ChannelID-r16 OPTIONAL, -- Need N f1c-TransferPath-r16 ENUMERATED {lte, nr, both} OPTIONAL, -- Need M simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1-r16 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2-r16 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList1-r16 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2-r16 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need RuplinkTxSwitchingOption-r16 ENUMERATED {switchedUL, dualUL} OPTIONAL, -- Need R uplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting-r16 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL -- Need R ]], [[ reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentTwoCarrier-r16 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Need N ]], [[ f1c-TransferPathNRDC-r17 ENUMERATED {mcg, scg, both} OPTIONAL, -- Need M uplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode-r17 ENUMERATED {enabled} OPTIONAL, -- Cond 2Tx uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState-r17 ENUMERATED {oneT, twoT} OPTIONAL, -- Cond 2Tx uu-RelayRLC-ChannelToAddModList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-r17)) OF Uu-RelayRLC- ChannelConfig-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need N uu-RelayRLC-ChannelToReleaseList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxUu-RelayRLC-ChannelID-r17)) OF Uu-RelayRLC- ChannelID-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need N simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofServingCellsTCI-r16)) OF ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Need R rlc-BearerToReleaseListExt-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxLC-ID)) OF LogicalChannelIdentityExt-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need N iab-ResourceConfigToAddModList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-r17)) OF IAB-ResourceConfig- r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need Niab-ResourceConfigToReleaseList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-r17)) OF IAB- ResourceConfigID-r17 OPTIONAL -- Need N ]], [[ reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-r17 ReportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-r17 OPTIONAL -- Need N [[, ltm-InfoList-r18 SetupRelease { LTM-InfoList-r18 } OPTIONAL -- Need M ]] } -- Serving cell specific MAC and PHY parameters for a SpCell: SpCellConfig ::= SEQUENCE { servCellIndex ServCellIndex OPTIONAL, -- Cond SCG reconfigurationWithSync ReconfigurationWithSync OPTIONAL, -- Cond ReconfWithSync rlf-TimersAndConstants SetupRelease { RLF- TimersAndConstants } OPTIONAL, -- Need M rlmInSyncOutOfSyncThreshold ENUMERATED {n1} OPTIONAL, -- Need S spCellConfigDedicated ServingCellConfig OPTIONAL, -- Need M ..., [[ lowMobilityEvaluationConnected-r17 SEQUENCE { s-SearchDeltaP-Connected-r17 ENUMERATED {dB3, dB6, dB9, dB12, dB15, spare3, spare2, spare1}, t-SearchDeltaP-Connected-r17 ENUMERATED {s5, s10, s20, s30, s60, s120, s180, s240, s300, spare7, spare6, spare5, spare4, spare3, spare2, spare1} } OPTIONAL, -- Need R goodServingCellEvaluationRLM-r17 GoodServingCellEvaluation-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need R goodServingCellEvaluationBFD-r17 GoodServingCellEvaluation-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need R deactivatedSCG-Config-r17 SetupRelease { DeactivatedSCG-Config-r17 } OPTIONAL -- Cond SCG-Opt ]] }ReconfigurationWithSync ::= SEQUENCE { spCellConfigCommon ServingCellConfigCommon OPTIONAL, -- Need M newUE-Identity RNTI-Value, t304 ENUMERATED {ms50, ms100, ms150, ms200, ms500, ms1000, ms2000, ms10000}, rach-ConfigDedicated CHOICE { uplink RACH- ConfigDedicated, supplementaryUplink RACH- ConfigDedicated } OPTIONAL, -- Need N ..., [[ smtc SSB- MTC OPTIONAL -- Need S ]], [[ daps-UplinkPowerConfig-r16 DAPS-UplinkPowerConfig-r16 OPTIONAL -- Need N ]], [[ sl-PathSwitchConfig-r17 SL-PathSwitchConfig-r17 OPTIONAL -- Cond DirectToIndirect-PathSwitch ]] } DAPS-UplinkPowerConfig-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { p-DAPS-Source-r16 P-Max, p-DAPS-Target-r16 P-Max, uplinkPowerSharingDAPS-Mode-r16 ENUMERATED {semi- static-mode1, semi-static-mode2, dynamic } } ScellConfig ::= SEQUENCE { sCellIndex ScellIndex, sCellConfigCommon ServingCellConfigCommon OPTIONAL, -- Cond ScellAdd sCellConfigDedicated ServingCellConfig OPTIONAL, -- Cond ScellAddMod ..., [[ smtc SSB-MTC OPTIONAL -- Need S ]], [[sCellState-r16 ENUMERATED {activated} OPTIONAL, -- Cond ScellAddSync secondaryDRX-GroupConfig-r16 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Cond DRX-Config2 ]], [[ preConfGapStatus-r17 BIT STRING (SIZE (maxNrofGapId-r17)) OPTIONAL, -- Cond PreConfigMG goodServingCellEvaluationBFD-r17 GoodServingCellEvaluation-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need R sCellSIB20-r17 SetupRelease { SCellSIB20-r17 } OPTIONAL -- Need M ]] } SCellSIB20-r17 ::= OCTET STRING (CONTAINING SystemInformation) DeactivatedSCG-Config-r17 ::= SEQUENCE { bfd-and-RLM-r17 BOOLEAN, ... } GoodServingCellEvaluation-r17 ::= SEQUENCE { offset-r17 ENUMERATED {db2, db4, db6, db8} OPTIONAL -- Need S } SL-PathSwitchConfig-r17 ::= SEQUENCE { targetRelayUE-Identity-r17 SL-SourceIdentity-r17, t420-r17 ENUMERATED {ms50, ms100, ms150, ms200, ms500, ms1000, ms2000, ms10000}, ... } IAB-ResourceConfig-r17 ::= SEQUENCE { iab-ResourceConfigID-r17 IAB-ResourceConfigID- r17, slotList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..5120)) OF INTEGER (0..5119) OPTIONAL, -- Need M periodicitySlotList-r17 ENUMERATED {ms0p5, ms0p625, ms1, ms1p25, ms2, ms2p5, ms5, ms10, ms20, ms40, ms80, ms160} OPTIONAL, -- Need M slotListSubcarrierSpacing-r17 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, -- Need M ... }IAB-ResourceConfigID-r17 ::= INTEGER(0..maxNrofIABResourceConfig-1-r17) ReportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier-r17 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1.. maxSimultaneousBands)) OF IntraBandCC- CombinationReqList-r17 IntraBandCC-CombinationReqList-r17::= SEQUENCE { servCellIndexList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1.. maxNrofServingCells)) OF ServCellIndex, cc-CombinationList-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE(1.. maxNrofReqComDC-Location-r17)) OF IntraBandCC-Combination-r17 } IntraBandCC-Combination-r17::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1.. maxNrofServingCells)) OF CC-State-r17 CC-State-r17::= SEQUENCE { dlCarrier-r17 CarrierState-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need N ulCarrier-r17 CarrierState-r17 OPTIONAL -- Need N } CarrierState-r17::= CHOICE { deActivated-r17 NULL, activeBWP-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofBWPs) } LTM-InfoList-r18 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1.. maxNrofCellsLTM-r18)) OF LTM-Info-r18 LTM-Info-r18 ::= SEQUENCE { ltm-CandidateId-r18 LTM- CandidateId-r18, SEQUENCE ltm-Candidate-Tci-States-ToAddModList-r18 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofCellsLTM-r18)) OF LTM-Candidate- Tci-States -r18 OPTIONAL, -- Need N ltm-Candidate-Tci-States-ToReleaseList-r18 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofCellsLTM-r18)) OF LTM-Candidate-Tci-StatesId -r18 OPTIONAL, -- Need N }CellGroupConfig field descriptions bap-Address BAP address of the parent node in cell group. Bh-RLC-ChannelToAddModList Configuration of the backhaul RLC entities and the corresponding MAC Logical Channels to be added and modified. Bh-RLC-ChannelToReleaseList List of the backhaul RLC entities and the corresponding MAC Logical Channels to be released. F1c-TransferPath The F1-C transfer path that an EN-DC IAB-MT should use for transferring F1-C packets to the IAB-donor-CU. If IAB-MT is configured with lte, IAB-MT can only use LTE leg for F1-C transfer. If IAB-MT is configured with nr, IAB-MT can only use NR leg for F1-C transfer. If IAB-MT is configured with both, it is up to IAB-MT to select an LTE leg or a NR leg for F1-C transfer. If the field is not configured, the IAB node uses the NR leg as the default one. F1c-TransferPathNRDC The F1-C transfer path that an NR-DC IAB-MT should use for transferring F1-C packets to the IAB-donor-CU. If IAB-MT is configured with mcg, IAB-MT can only use the MCG for F1-C transfer. If IAB-MT is configured with scg, IAB-MT can only use the SCG for F1-C transfer. If IAB-MT is configured with both, it is up to IAB-MT to select the MCG or the SCG for F1-C transfer. ltm-InfoList This field contains necessary information for the UE for procedures about an LTM candidate cell to be executed before an LTM cell switch. Mac-CellGroupConfig MAC parameters applicable for the entire cell group. Rlc-BearerToAddModList Configuration of the MAC Logical Channel, the corresponding RLC entities and association with radio bearers. reportUplinkTxDirectCurrent Enables reporting of uplink and supplementary uplink Direct Current location information upon BWP configuration and reconfiguration. This field is only present when the BWP configuration is modified or any serving cell is added or removed. This field is absent in the IE CellGroupConfig when provided as part of RRCSetup message. If UE is configured with SUL carrier, UE reports both UL and SUL Direct Current locations. reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentMoreCarrier Enables reporting of uplink Direct Current location information when the UE is configured with intra-band CA. This field is absent in the IE CellGroupConfig when provided as part of RRCSetup message. The UE only reports the uplink Direct Current location information that are related to the indicated cc-CombinationList. The network does not include carriers which locate in DL only spectrum described in TS 38.101-2

[0039] , clause 5.3A.4 and defined by Fsd according to Table 5.3A.4-3 in FR2 in the IntraBandCC-CombinationReqList. I.e. DL-only carrier in FR2 frequency spectrum is not used to calculate the default DC location. reportUplinkTxDirectCurrentTwoCarrier Enables reporting of uplink Direct Current location information when the UE is configured with uplink intra-band CA with two carriers. This field is absent in the IE CellGroupConfig when provided as part of RRCSetup message.Rlc-BearerToReleaseListExt List of the RLC entities and the corresponding MAC Logical Channels to be released for multicast MRBs. rlmInSyncOutOfSyncThreshold BLER threshold pair index for IS / OOS indication generation, see TS 38.133

[0014] , table 8.1.1-1. N1 corresponds to the value 1. When the field is absent, the UE applies the value 0. Whenever this is reconfigured, UE resets N310 and N311, and stops T310, if running. Network does not include this field. sCellSIB20 This field is used to transfer SIB20 of the SCell in order to allow the UE for MBS broadcast reception on SCell. The network configures this field only for a single SCell at a time. sCellState Indicates whether the SCell shall be considered to be in activated state upon SCell configuration. If the field is included for an SCell configured with TRS for fast activation of the SCell, such TRS is not used for the corresponding SCell. sCellToAddModList List of secondary serving cells (SCells) to be added or modified. sCellToReleaseList List of secondary serving cells (SCells) to be released. secondaryDRX-GroupConfig The field is used to indicate whether the SCell belongs to the secondary DRX group. All serving cells in the secondary DRX group shall belong to one Frequency Range and all serving cells in the legacy DRX group shall belong to another Frequency Range. simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList1, simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList2 List of serving cells which can be updated simultaneously for spatial relation with a MAC CE. The simultaneousSpatial-UpdatedList1 and simultaneousSpatial- UpdatedList2 shall not contain same serving cells. Network should not configure serving cells that are configured with a BWP with two different values for the coresetPoolIndex in these lists. simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2 List of serving cells which can be updated simultaneously for TCI relation with a MAC CE. The simultaneousTCI-UpdateList1 and simultaneousTCI-UpdateList2 shall not contain same serving cells. Network should not configure serving cells that are configured with a BWP with two different values for the coresetPoolIndex in these lists. simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList1, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList2, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList3, simultaneousU-TCI-UpdateList4 List of serving cells for which the Unified TCI States Activation / Deactivation MAC CE applies simultaneously, as specified in TS 38.321 [3] clause 6.1.3.47. The different lists shall not contain same serving cells. Network only configures in these lists serving cells that are configured with unifiedTCI-StateType. spCellConfig Parameters for the SpCell of this cell group (Pcell of MCG or PSCell of SCG).uplinkTxSwitchingOption Indicates which option is configured for dynamic UL Tx switching for inter-band UL CA or (NG)EN-DC. The field is set to switchedUL if network configures option 1 as specified in TS 38.214

[0019] , or dualUL if network configures option 2 as specified in TS 38.214

[0019] . Network always configures UE with a value for this field in inter- band UL CA case and (NG)EN-DC case where UE supports dynamic UL Tx switching. uplinkTxSwitchingPowerBoosting Indicates whether the UE is allowed to enable 3dB boosting on the maximum output power for transmission on carrier2 under the operation state in which 2-port transmission can be supported on carrier2 for inter-band UL CA case with dynamic UL Tx switching as defined in TS 38.101-1

[0015] . Network can only configure this field for dynamic UL Tx switching in inter-band UL CA case with power Class 3 as defined in TS 38.101-1

[0015] . uplinkTxSwitching-2T-Mode Indicates 2Tx-2Tx switching mode is configured for inter-band UL CA or SUL, in which the switching gap duration for a triggered uplink switching (as specified in TS 38.214

[0019] ) is equal to the switching time capability value reported for the switching mode. If this field is absent and uplinkTxSwitching is configured, it is interpreted that 1Tx- 2Tx UL Tx switching is configured as specified in TS 38.214

[0019] . In this case, there is one uplink (or one uplink band in case of intra-band) configured with uplinkTxSwitching, on which the maximum number of antenna ports among all configured P-SRS / A-SRS and activated SP-SRS resources should be 1 and non- codebook based UL MIMO is not configured. uplinkTxSwitching-DualUL-TxState Indicates the state of Tx chains if the state of Tx chains after the UL Tx switching is not unique (as specified in TS 38.214

[0019] ) in case of 2Tx-2Tx switching is configured and uplinkTxSwitchingOption is set to dualUL. Value oneT indicates 1Tx is assumed to be supported on the carriers on each band, value twoT indicates 2Tx is assumed to be supported on that carrier. uu-RelayRLC-ChannelToAddModList List of the Uu RLC entities and the corresponding MAC Logical Channels to be added or modified. uu-RelayRLC-ChannelToReleaseList List of the Uu RLC entities and the corresponding MAC Logical Channels to be released. – LTM-Candidate-Tci-States The IE LTM-Candidate-Tci-States defines a group of one or more TCI states for an LTM candidate cell configuration. LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig information element -- ASN1START -- TAG-LTM-CANDIDATE-TCI-STATES-START LTM-Candidate-Tci-States ::= SEQUENCE {tci-StatesToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofTCI-States)) OF TCI-State OPTIONAL, -- Need N tci-StatesToReleaseList SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofTCI-States)) OF TCI-StateId OPTIONAL, -- Need N ... } -- TAG-LTM-CANDIDATE-TCI-STATES-STOP -- ASN1STOP LTM-CSI-ResourceConfig field descriptions tci-StatesToAddModList A list of Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states for a LTM candidate cell. – LTM-Candidate-Tci-StatesId The IE LTM-Candidate-Tci-StatesId is used to identify an LTM-Candidate-Tci-States. LTM-CSI-ResourceConfigId information element -- ASN1START -- TAG-LTM-CANDIDATE-TCI-STATESID-START LTM-Candidate-Tci-StatesId ::= INTEGER (0..FFS-1) -- TAG-LTM-CANDIDATE-TCI-STATESID-STOP -- ASN1STOP

[0124] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0125] In the example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunication network 702 that includes an access network 704, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 706, which includes one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 710a and 710b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, thetelecommunication network 702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 702 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 702, including one or more network nodes 710 and / or core network nodes 708.

[0126] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 712a, 712b, 712c, and 712d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0127] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 700 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0128] The UEs 712 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with thenetwork nodes 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 702 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 702.

[0129] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects the network nodes 710 to one or more hosts, such as host 716. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 706 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 708. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0130] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunication network 702, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0131] As a whole, the communication system 700 of Figure 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g.,6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0132] In some examples, the telecommunication network 702 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 702. For example, the telecommunications network 702 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive IoT services to yet further UEs.

[0133] In some examples, the UEs 712 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 704. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved- UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio – Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0134] In the example, the hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 710b). In some examples, the hub 714 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 714 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 714. As another example, the hub 714 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 714 then provides to the UE either directly, after performinglocal processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.

[0135] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710b. The hub 714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 714 and UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d), and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 714 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 710 while still connected via the hub 714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 714 may be a dedicated hub – that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 710b. In other embodiments, the hub 714 may be a non-dedicated hub – that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 710b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0136] Figure 8 shows a UE 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0137] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle- to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent adevice that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0138] The UE 800 includes processing circuitry 802 that is operatively coupled via a bus 804 to an input / output interface 806, a power source 808, a memory 810, a communication interface 812, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 8. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0139] The processing circuitry 802 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 810. The processing circuitry 802 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 802 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0140] In the example, the input / output interface 806 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 800. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an inputdevice. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0141] In some embodiments, the power source 808 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 808 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 808 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 800 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 808. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 808 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 800 to which power is supplied.

[0142] The memory 810 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 810 includes one or more application programs 814, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 816. The memory 810 may store, for use by the UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0143] The memory 810 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD- DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ Memory 810 may allow the UE 800 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off- load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communicationsystem may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 810, which may be or comprise a device- readable storage medium.

[0144] The processing circuitry 802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 812. The communication interface 812 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 822. The communication interface 812 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 818 and / or a receiver 820 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 818 and receiver 820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 822) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0145] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 812 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0146] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 812, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0147] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0148] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an IoT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 800 shown in Figure 8.

[0149] As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0150] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controlleroperating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0151] Figure 9 shows a network node 900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0152] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0153] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0154] The network node 900 includes a processing circuitry 902, a memory 904, a communication interface 906, and a power source 908. The network node 900 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 900 comprises multipleseparate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 900 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 904 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 900 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 900, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 900.

[0155] The processing circuitry 902 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 900 components, such as the memory 904, to provide network node 900 functionality.

[0156] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and the baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0157] The memory 904 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer- executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 902. The memory 904 may store any suitable instructions, data, orinformation, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 902 and utilized by the network node 900. Memory 904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 906. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 and memory 904 is integrated.

[0158] The communication interface 906 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 906 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 916 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 906 also includes radio front-end circuitry 918 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 910. Radio front-end circuitry 918 comprises filters 920 and amplifiers 922. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may be connected to an antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 920 and / or amplifiers 922. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 910. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 910 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 918. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 902. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0159] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 900 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 918, instead, the processing circuitry 902 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 912 is part of the communication interface 906. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 906 includes one or more ports or terminals 916, the radio front-end circuitry 918, and the RF transceiver circuitry 912, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 906 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 914, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0160] The antenna 910 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 910 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 918 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / orsignals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 910 is separate from the network node 900 and connectable to the network node 900 through an interface or port.

[0161] The antenna 910, communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 910, the communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0162] The power source 908 provides power to the various components of network node 900 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 908 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 900 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 900 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 908. As a further example, the power source 908 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0163] Embodiments of the network node 900 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 9 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 900 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 900 and to allow output of information from the network node 900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 900.

[0164] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host 1000, which may be an embodiment of the host 716 of Figure 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1000 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1000 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0165] The host 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a network interface 1008, a power source 1010, and a memory 1012. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 8 and 9, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1000.

[0166] Memory 1012 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1014 and data 1016, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1000 or data generated by the host 1000 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1000 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1014 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1014 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1000 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1014 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0167] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1100 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments,the virtualization environment 1100 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0168] Applications 1102 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0169] Hardware 1104 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108a and 1108b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0170] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1108, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0171] In the context of NFV, a VM 1108 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1108, and that part of hardware 1104 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to the application 1102.

[0172] Hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1104 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a datacenter or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0173] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host 1202 communicating via a network node 1204 with a UE 1206 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 712a of Figure 7 and / or UE 800 of Figure 8), network node (such as network node 710a of Figure 7 and / or network node 900 of Figure 9), and host (such as host 716 of Figure 7 and / or host 1000 of Figure 10) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 12.

[0174] Like host 1000, embodiments of host 1202 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1202 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1202 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1206 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1250 extending between the UE 1206 and host 1202. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1250.

[0175] The network node 1204 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1202 and UE 1206. The connection 1260 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 706 of Figure 7) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0176] The UE 1206 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1206 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1206 with the support of the host 1202. In the host 1202, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1250 terminating at the UE 1206 and host 1202. Inproviding the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1250 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1250.

[0177] The OTT connection 1250 may extend via a connection 1260 between the host 1202 and the network node 1204 and via a wireless connection 1270 between the network node 1204 and the UE 1206 to provide the connection between the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 and wireless connection 1270, over which the OTT connection 1250 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 via the network node 1204, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0178] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1250, in step 1208, the host 1202 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1206. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1206 that shares data with the host 1202 without explicit human interaction. In step 1210, the host 1202 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1206. The host 1202 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1206. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1206 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1206. The transmission may pass via the network node 1204, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1212, the network node 1204 transmits to the UE 1206 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1202 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1214, the UE 1206 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1206 associated with the host application executed by the host 1202.

[0179] In some examples, the UE 1206 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1202. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1202. Accordingly, in step 1216, the UE 1206 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1206. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1206 initiates, in step 1218, transmission of the user data towards the host 1202 via the networknode 1204. In step 1220, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1204 receives user data from the UE 1206 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1202. In step 1222, the host 1202 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1206.

[0180] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1206 using the OTT connection 1250, in which the wireless connection 1270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption through more efficient use of radio resources for signalling. One or more of these embodiments may benefit OTT service through reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery lifetime.

[0181] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1202. As another example, the host 1202 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1202 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1202 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1202 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1202 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0182] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1250 between the host 1202 and UE 1206, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1202 and / or UE 1206. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1250 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alterthe operation of the network node 1204. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1202. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1250 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0183] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0184] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to theprocessing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0185] A listing of example Embodiments according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is provided below: Group A Embodiments A1. A method performed by a user equipment comprising: receiving (500) in a first message a configuration indicating, for a Level-1, L1, or Level- 2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state identifier, ID, and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID; receiving (502) in a second message an indication of at least one TCI state ID; and activating (504) a TCI state using a RS ID that is associated by the mapping with the TCI state ID indicated by the second message. A2. The method of any of the previous Group A embodiments, wherein: the configuration indicates a LTM candidate configuration ID; and the activating of the TCI state further uses the LTM candidate configuration ID to identify the mapping. A3. The method of any of the previous Group A embodiments, wherein: the activating of the TCI state comprises initiating beam management for the LTM candidate cell using a RS relationship associated with the RS ID for at least one of: Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, and a Spatial Rx parameter. A4. The method of any of the previous Group A embodiments, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID. A5. The method of any of the previous Group A embodiments, wherein: the first message is a Radio Resource Control, RRC, message; and the second message is a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, for LTM execution or is a MAC CE before LTM execution. A6. The method of the previous Group A embodiment, wherein: the configuration is received in the first message as part of an LTM preparationconfiguration in a LTM-Config information element, IE, within RRCReconfiguration. A7. The method of any of the previous Group A embodiments, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI- RS, resource ID. A8. The method of the previous Group A embodiment, wherein: the configuration indicates for the LTM candidate cell a first mapping between the least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID. A9. The method of any of the previous Group A embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via a transmission to a network node. Group B Embodiments B1. A method performed by a network node comprising: obtaining (600) for a Level-1, L1, or Level-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID (e.g., TCI state ID) and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID(s)); and transmitting (602) a first message containing a configuration indicating for the LTM candidate cell the mapping between the at least one TCI ID and the at least one RS ID. B2. The method of any of the previous Group B embodiments, wherein: the configuration indicates a LTM candidate configuration ID. B3. The method of any of the previous Group B embodiments, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID. B4. The method of any of the previous Group B embodiments, wherein the first message is a Radio Resource Control, RRC, message, and further comprising transmitting a second message containing an indication of at least one TCI state ID.B5. The method of the previous Group B embodiment, wherein: the second message is a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, for LTM execution or is a MAC CE before LTM execution. B6. The method of the two previous Group B embodiments, wherein: the configuration is transmitted in the first message as part of an LTM preparation configuration in a LTM-Config information element, IE, within RRCReconfiguration. B7. The method of any of the previous Group B embodiments, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI- RS, resource ID. B8. The method of the previous Group B embodiment, wherein: the configuration indicates for the LTM candidate cell a first mapping between the least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID. B9. The method of any of the previous Group B embodiments, wherein: the first message is transmitted in response to a request from a Central Unit, CU, to configure the LTM candidate cell. B10. The method of the previous Group B embodiment, wherein: the first message is transmitted in response to a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST OR A UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST. B11. The method of any of the previous two Group B embodiments, wherein: the CU indicates in the request that the CU intends to activate TCI states before a LTM cell switch. B12. The method of any of the previous three Group B embodiments, wherein: the configuration of the first message is transmitted in a RRC container. B13. The method of any of the previous Group B embodiments, further comprising:obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment. Group C Embodiments C1. A user equipment comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry. C2. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry. C3. A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE. C4. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the networknode configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE. C5. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host. C6. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE. C7. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE. C8. The method of any of the previous two embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. C9. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.C10. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and / or the UE. C11. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host. C12. The host of the previous two embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that receives the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. C13. The host of the any of the previous two embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data. C14. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host. C15. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host. C16. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; anda network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host. C17. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host. C18. The host of the previous two embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. C19. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host. C20. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the host application. C21. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.C22. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host. C23. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host. C24. The host of the previous two embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application. C25. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host. C26. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE. C27. The method of the previous two embodiments, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.ABBREVIATIONS

[0186] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s). 1x RTT CDMA2000 1x Radio Transmission Technology 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G 5th Generation 5GC 5G Core Network 6G 6th Generation ABS Almost Blank Subframe ACK Acknowledgement AGC Automatic Gain Control AMF Access and Mobility Management Function AP Application Protocol ARQ Automatic Repeat Request AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise BCCH Broadcast Control Channel BCH Broadcast Channel BFD Beam Failure Monitoring BSR Buffer Status Report BWP Bandwidth Part CA Carrier Aggregation CC Carrier Component CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access CE Control Element CGI Cell Global Identifier CIR Channel Impulse Response CN Core Network CP Cyclic Prefix CPA Conditional PSCell Addition CPC Conditional PSCell ChangeCPICH Common Pilot Channel CPICH Ec / No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band CQI Channel Quality information C-RNTI Cell RNTI CSI Channel State Information CU Central Unit DC Dual Connectivity DCCH Dedicated Control Channel DCI Downlink Control Information DL Downlink DM Demodulation DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal DRB Downlink Control Information DRX Discontinuous Reception DTX Discontinuous Transmission DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel DU Distributed Unit DUT Device Under Test E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method) eMBMS evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre ECGI Evolved CGI eNB E-UTRAN NodeB ePDCCH Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel E-RAB EUTRAN Radio Access Bearer E-SMLC Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network F1 Interface between Central Unit and Distributed Unit FDD Frequency Division Duplex FFS For Further Study gNB Base station in NR GNSS Global Navigation Satellite SystemGTP-U GPRS Tunneling Protocol – User Plane HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request HO Handover HSPA High Speed Packet Access HRPD High Rate Packet Data IE Information Element IP Internet Protocol LOS Line of Sight LPP LTE Positioning Protocol LTE Long-Term Evolution LTM L1 / L2-Triggered Mobility MAC Medium Access Control MAC CE MAC Control Element MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe MDT Minimization of Drive Tests MIB Master Information Block MME Mobility Management Entity MN Master Node MR-DC Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity MSC Mobile Switching Center NACK Negative Acknowledgement NAS Non Access Stratum NG-RAN Next Generation Radio Access Network Ng-eNB Next Generation Evolved Node B NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel NR New Radio OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access OSS Operations Support System OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival O&M Operation and Maintenance PBCH Physical Broadcast ChannelP-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel PCell Primary Cell PCI Physical Cell Identity PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol PDP Profile Delay Profile PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel PGW Packet Gateway PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel PHR Power headroom report PLMN Public Land Mobile Network PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator posSI Positioning System Information PRACH Physical Random Access Channel PRS Positioning Reference Signal PSCell Primary Secondary Cell (in LTE) or Primary SCG Cell (in NR) PSS Primary Synchronization Signal PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RACH Random Access Channel QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation RAN Radio Access Network RAT Radio Access Technology RB Radio Bearer RLC Radio Link Control RLF Radio Link Failure RLM Radio Link Management RNC Radio Network Controller RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier RRC Radio Resource Control RRM Radio Resource Management RS Reference Signal RSCP Received Signal Code PowerRSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR Reference Symbol Received Quality RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference SCH Synchronization Channel SCell Secondary Cell SCG Secondary Cell Group SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol SDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol SDU Service Data Unit SeNB Secondary eNB SFN System Frame Number SgNB Secondary gNB SGW Serving Gateway SI System Information SIB System Information Block SINR Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio SN Secondary Node SNR Signal to Noise Ratio SON Self Optimized Network SpCell Special Cell, the primary cell of a master or secondary cell group SR Scheduling Request SRB Signaling Radio Bearer SS Synchronization Signal SSB Synchronization Signal Block SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal SUL Supplementary uplink TAT Time Alignment Timer TCI Transmission Configuration Indication TDD Time Division Duplex TDOA Time Difference of Arrival TEID Tunnel Endpoint IDentifierTNL Transport Network Layer TOA Time of Arrival TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal TTI Transmission Time Interval T-SN Target Secondary Node UCI Uplink Control Information UDP User Datagram Protocol UE User Equipment UL Uplink UL-SCH Uplink Shared Channel UP User Plane UPF User Plane Function URLLC Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival WCDMA Wide CDMA WLAN Wide Local Area Network X2 Interface between base stations Xn Interface between base stationsREFERENCES [1] RP-223520, 3GPP work item description: Further NR mobility enhancements, MediaTek Inc, Apple, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #98-e, Electronic Meeting, December 12-16, 2022

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method performed by a user equipment comprising: receiving (500) in a first message a configuration indicating, for a Layer-1, L1, or Layer- 2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, state identifier, ID, and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID, for a TCI state of the LTM candidate cell; receiving (502) in a second message an indication of at least one TCI state ID of the TCI state of the LTM candidate cell; and activating (504) a TCI state using a RS ID that is associated by the mapping with the TCI state ID indicated by the second message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the configuration indicates a LTM candidate configuration ID; and the activating of the TCI state further uses the LTM candidate configuration ID to identify the mapping.

3. The method of any of claims 1 to 2, wherein: the activating of the TCI state comprises initiating beam management for the LTM candidate cell using a RS relationship associated with the RS ID for at least one of: Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, and a Spatial Rx parameter.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the mapping between the at least one TCI state ID and the at least one SSB ID is per LTM candidate cell.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the mapping is associated to the LTM candidate cell by indicating an LTM candidate ID outside an LTM candidate cell configuration.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein: the first message is a Radio Resource Control, RRC, message; and the second message is a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, for LTMexecution or is a MAC CE before LTM execution.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein: the configuration is received in the first message as part of an LTM preparation configuration in a LTM-Config information element, IE, within RRCReconfiguration.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI- RS, resource ID.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: the configuration indicates for the LTM candidate cell a first mapping between the least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID.

11. The method of any of claims 1 to 10, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via a transmission to a network node.

12. A method performed by a network node comprising: receiving (600) for a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID; and transmitting (602) a first message containing a configuration indicating for the LTM candidate cell the mapping between the at least one TCI ID and the at least one RS ID.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein: the configuration indicates a LTM candidate configuration ID.

14. The method of any of claims 12 to 13, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID.

15. The method of any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the first message is a Radio Resource Control, RRC, message, andfurther comprising transmitting a second message containing an indication of at least one TCI state ID.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein: the second message is a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, for LTM execution or is a MAC CE before LTM execution.

17. The method of any of claims 15 to 16, wherein: the configuration is transmitted in the first message as part of an LTM preparation configuration in a LTM-Config information element, IE, within RRCReconfiguration.

18. The method of any of claims 12 to 17, wherein: the at least one RS ID is at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI- RS, resource ID.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein: the configuration indicates for the LTM candidate cell a first mapping between the least one TCI state ID and one CSI-RS resource ID, and a second mapping between the CSI-RS resource ID and a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, ID.

20. The method of any of claims 12 to 19, wherein the first message is transmitted in the user equipment’s current CellGroupConfig included in a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE.

21. The method of any of claims 12 to 20, wherein: the first message is transmitted in response to receiving a request from a Central Unit, CU, to configure the LTM candidate cell.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein: the configuration of the first message is transmitted in a RRC container.

23. The method of any of claims 12 to 22, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.

24. A user equipment comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of claims 1 to 11; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

25. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of claims 12 to 23; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

26. A method performed by a network node comprising: transmitting (3003) a request to configure the a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell; and receiving (3004), for a LTM candidate cell, a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the request comprises a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST or a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST.

28. The method of any of claims 26 to 27, wherein the request includes one or more indications of Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cells.

29. The method of any of claims 26 to 28, wherein the mapping is received in an RRC container.

30. The method of any of claims 26 to 29, further comprising: transmitting an indication of the mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID to a source distributed unit, S-DU.

31. The method of any of claims 26 to 30, wherein the request comprises indications that the network node intends to activate TCI states before a LTM cell switch.

32. The method of any of claims 26 to 31, further comprising:receiving a message containing a configuration indicating for a LTM candidate cell the mapping between the at least one TCI ID and the at least one RS ID from the S-DU; transmitting a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID to the S-DU.

33. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of claims 26 to 32; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

34. A method performed by a network node comprising: receiving (3003) a request to configure a Layer-1, L1, or Layer-2, L2, triggered mobility, LTM, candidate cell including one or more indications of LTM candidate cells; and transmitting (3004), for at least one LTM candidate cell indicated in the request, a response including a mapping between at least one Transmission Configuration Indication, TCI, ID and at least one Reference Signal, RS, ID.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the received request comprises a UE CONTECT SETUP REQUEST or a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST.

36. The method of any of claims 34 to 35, wherein the response comprises a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE or the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONSE.

37. The method of any of claims 34 to 36, wherein the mapping is transmitted in an RRC container.

38. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of claims 34 to 37; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

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