Internet protocol multimedia subsystem node, packet switched core network node and methods in a wireless communications network

Abstract

A method performed by an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) node is provided. The method is for handling a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communications network. The wireless communications network supports a Packet 5 Switched (PS) access domain. The IMS node sends (201) a first request to a PS Core Network (CN) node. The first request will trigger the PS CN node to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain. The IMS node receives (202) a first indication from the PS CN node. The first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request. The which first 10 failure is a temporary failure. The IMS node sends (203) a second request to the PS CN node. The second request will retrigger the PS CN node to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain. The IMS node receives a second indication from the PS CN node. The second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, 15 retriggered according to the second request.

Description

[0001] INTERNET PROTOCOL MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM NODE, PACKET SWITCHED CORE NETWORK NODE AND METHODS IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network node, and a Packet Switched (PS) Core Network (CN) node methods therein. In some aspects, they relate to handling a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service (QoS) resources relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment (UE) in a wireless communications network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or User Equipment (UE), communicate via a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network comprising a Radio Access Network (RAN) part and a Core Network (CN) part. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point, a Base Station (BS) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a Base Station (BS), a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNodeB (gNB) as denoted in Fifth Generation (5G) telecommunications. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on a radio frequency with the wireless devices within the range of the radio network node.

[0006] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the standardization body for specifying the standards for the cellular system evolution, e.g., including 3G, 4G, 5G and the future evolutions. Specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA) and Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP. In 4G also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, EPS is core network and E-UTRA is radio access network. In 5G, 5G Core (5GC) is core network, NR is radio access network. As a continued network evolution, the new release of 3GPP specifies a 5G network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR) and 5GC.

[0007] Frequency bands for 5G NR are being separated into two different frequency ranges, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). FR1 comprises sub-6 GHz frequency bands. Some of these bands are bands traditionally used by legacy standards but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2 comprises frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Bands in this millimeter wave range have shorter range but higher available bandwidth than bands in the FR1.

[0008] Multi-antenna techniques may significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. For a wireless connection between a single user, such as UE, and a base station (BS), the performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. This may be referred to as Single-User (SU)-MIMO. In the scenario where MIMO techniques is used for the wireless connection between multiple users and the base station, MIMO enables the users to communicate with the base station simultaneously using the same time-frequency resources by spatially separating the users, which increases further the cell capacity. This may be referred to as Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. Note that MU-MIMO may benefit when each UE only has one antenna. The cell capacity can be increased linearly with respect to the number of antennas at the BS side. Due to that, more and more antennas are employed in BS. Such systems and / or related techniques are commonly referred to as massive MIMO.

[0009] The vast majority of wireless voice networks today support two different types of accesses domains. A Circuit Switched (CS) domain using 2G / 3G access, for CS Voice. Further, a Packet Switched (PS) domain may be used to deliver PS Voice using 4G / 5G access and Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The PS Voice technology for 4G Access is Voice over LTE (VoLTE), while for 5G access it may be either Evolved Packet System Fallback (EPS-FB) or Voice over NR (VoNR). An idle mobile phone will connect to a cell in a domain that offers the best radio conditions at a certain time. Moreover, at any time, a mobile phone involved in a voice call may handover from one domain to another in order to provide the best available coverage.

[0010] Since the CS core network associated to the CS domain is very different from the PS core network associated to the PS domain, the network needs to use different technologies and procedures to deliver a call in CS, using e.g. Mobile Application Part (MAP), Integrated services digital network User Part (ISUP), compared to delivering it in PS, using e.g. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The today’s standardization and solutions for Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) based PS voice support the Terminating Access Domain Selection (T-ADS) functionality, which, for a terminating call to a user, of e.g. a UE, identifies the domain serving the terminating user, and assist in providing information required to correctly reach the user in that serving domain.

[0011] SUMMARY

[0012] As part of developing embodiments herein, the inventors identified some problems that first will be described.

[0013] In real networks it is also possible that due to race conditions or other error situations a call delivered to a PS Contact, such as a UE assumed to be in PS domain, may fail. The word contact when used herein may mean a domain specific addressing information needed to reach a UE in that specific domain, e.g., the same UE may have both a CS Contact and a PS Contact in the respective domains. In such failure cases the T-ADS procedure offers the option that instead of dropping the call, to retry the call delivery to the CS Contact. This is based on the fact that in most of the networks the UEs are combined attached to both CS and PS domain, and therefore there is a good chance the UE can be reached on CS. Many operators use the CS retry as an “insurance policy” in the sense that if something goes wrong in the IMS Network, there is still a good chance to have a successful call established in the CS domain.

[0014] During PS Voice call establishment over NR or LTE, temporary failure conditions may occur in RAN and / or Packet Core and one of the main failure reasons are related to dedicated voice bearer establishment, which leads to call establishment failure.

[0015] With the introduction of VoNR, the lack of a mechanism that allows to retry a failed mobile terminating call due to a temporary bearer setup failure, results in a degradation of the call success rate Key Performance Indicators (KPI)s compared with VoLTE, where legacy CS breakout is used to retry a failed MT VoLTE call.

[0016] Current solution relies on the CS breakout mechanism, which is not optimal for VoNR, because Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) is not defined for 5GS, and hence there is no way to deliver the call to the CS domain and force the UE to fall back to the CS domain. As result, for VoNR, the CS breakout is suppressed as fallback option when a Mobile Terminated (MT) call on 5G fails or times out. There is also a need for a solution to enhance the existing retry mechanism in case of an VoLTE MT call failure in LTE. The existing solution currently only consider CS breakout for mobile terminating calls failure on LTE and does not consider PS retry.

[0017] For greenfield packet domain-based networks without a CS network, there is no available retry mechanism upon mobile terminating VoLTE, EPS FB or VoNR, call failure.

[0018] The CS technology will be discontinued in the future; hence CS breakout will no longer be available as a retry option.

[0019] An object of embodiments herein is to improve the voice call establishment success ratio in a wireless communications network.

[0020] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node. The method is for handling a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, in a wireless communications network. The wireless communications network supports a Packet Switched, PS, access domain. The IMS node sends a first request to a PS Core Network, CN, node. The first request will trigger the PS CN node to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain. The IMS node receives a first indication from the PS CN node. The first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request. The which first failure is a temporary failure. The IMS node sends a second request to the PS CN node. The second request will retrigger the PS CN node to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain. The IMS node receives a second indication from the PS CN node. The second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0021] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a Packet Switched, PS, Core Network, CN, node. The method is for handling a failure of setting up voice QoS resources, relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, in a wireless communications network. The wireless communications network supports a Packet Switched, PS, access domain. The PS CN node receives a first request from an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node. The first request is triggering the PS CN node to setup the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain. The PS CN node fails the triggered setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, due to a temporary failure. The PS CN node sends a first indication to the IMS node. The first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request. The first failure is a temporary failure.

[0022] The PS CN node receives a second request from the IMS node. The second request is retriggering the PS CN node to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain.

[0023] The PS CN node sends a second indication to IMS node. The second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0024] According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node configured to handle a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources, relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, in a wireless communications network. The wireless communications network is adapted to support a Packet Switched, PS, access domain. The IMS node is further configured to: send a first request to a PS Core Network, CN, node, which first request will trigger the PS CN node to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, receive a first indication from the PS CN node, which first indication is adapted to indicate a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is adapted to be a temporary failure, send a second request to the PS CN node, which second request will retrigger the PS CN node to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, receive a second indication from the PS CN node, which second indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0025] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a Packet Switched, PS, Core Network, CN, node configured to handle a failure of setting up voice QoS resources relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, in a wireless communications network. The wireless communications network is adapted to support a Packet Switched, PS, access domain. The PS CN node is further configured to: receive a first request from an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node, which first request is adapted to trigger the PS CN node to setup the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, fail the triggered setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, due to a temporary failure, send a first indication to the IMS node, which first indication is adapted to indicate a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is a temporary failure, receive a second request from the IMS node, which second request is adapted to retrigger the PS CN node to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, send a second indication to IMS node, which second indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0026] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

[0028] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a communications network.

[0029] Figure 2 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in an IMS node.

[0030] Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in a PS CN node.

[0031] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0032] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0033] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0034] Figure 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0035] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of an IMS node.

[0036] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a PS CN node.

[0037] Figure 10 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system.

[0038] Figure 11 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE.

[0039] Figure 12 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a network node.

[0040] Figure 13 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a host.

[0041] Figure 14 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a virtualization environment. Figure 15 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a communication diagram of a host.

[0042] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Examples of embodiments provide a method that upon a failure to set up voice Quality of Service (QoS), resources such as e.g. a 5G Voice QoS flow towards a PS registered contact, such as e.g., mobile terminating call setup failure, due to insufficient bearer resources, will retry the voice call delivery towards the same PS registered contact.

[0044] This method is very beneficial considering that the temporary failure may be intermittent and recoverable, hence the voice call delivery retry has a good chance to succeed because the required voice QoS Resources will likely be available.

[0045] Example embodiments herein e.g., aims to improve the Call Setup Success Ratio (CSSR) of Voice Calls, which is an important KPI for voice services over cellular networks such as e.g., VoNR, EPS FB and VoLTE.

[0046] An example of a method according to embodiments herein e.g., provides embodiments of methods that enhances the voice call establishment signalling flow to allow for a PS domain retry in case the mobile terminating call such as a VoNR, VoLTE or EPS FB mobile terminating call, fails due to voice resource reservation failure. This may be based on the fact that, in most of the cases, the voice resource reservation failure is a transitory event, e.g., a UE behind an obstacle, that may be rectified in the next few hundred milliseconds, e.g., when the UE changes its position.

[0047] In some embodiments, and more specifically, in case of failed attempt to establish a call towards terminating UE camped on a NR / LTE cell, due to failure to establish a 5QI-1 flow or a QCI-1 , a Telephony Application Server (TAS) may retry towards the same contact registered in a PS domain access, without letting the call fail. A 5QI-1 flow is a standardised 5GS QoS Flow that meets the QoS characteristics required by the voice services. Similarly, a QCI-1 bearer is an EPS bearer that meets the QoS characteristics required by the voice services. A mobile TAS, also referred to as an MMTel-AS, is a component used in the core network of a mobile network operator to provide telephony applications and additional multimedia functions to mobile devices. The PS domain retry may be immediate or it may be subject to the expiration of a configurable PS retry timer.

[0048] The PS retry may preferably be triggered only if the failure is considered temporary and no other network congestion indications were received by TAS. According to some embodiments herein, after a PS retry failure, if the network also supports CS access, and depending on the type of error encountered, it is possible to attempt a second retry to CS, as per legacy implementation.

[0049] Figure 1 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The wireless communications network 100 comprises one or more RANs, one or more CNs and an IMS 105 such as e.g. an conversation AR network. The communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, 6G, Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0050] Base stations, such as a first base station 111 and a second base station 112, operate in the RAN of the communications network 100. The base stations 111 , 112, may each be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, or any other network unit capable of communicating with UEs, such as a UE 121 , within a cell, served by the respective base station 111 , 112. The respective base station 111 , 112 may be referred to as a serving radio network node and may communicate with the UE 121 with Downlink (DL) transmissions to the UE 121 and Uplink (UL) transmissions from the UE 121.

[0051] IMS nodes, such as an IMS node 130, operate in the wireless communications network 100.

[0052] According to embodiments herein the IMS node 130 may be or may comprise any one or more out of: a P-CSCF node, a S-CSCF node, a Terminating Telephony Application Server (Term TAS) node, a P-CSCF network function, and a S-CSCF network function. PS and CS CN nodes, such as a PS CN node 151 and a CS CN node 152, operate in the wireless communications network 100.

[0053] According to embodiments herein the PS CN node 151 may comprise, or be, a Policy Control Function (PCF) function, a Session Management Function (SMF) or a PCF node, an SMF node. The CS CN node 152 may comprise, or be, a Mobile switching Center (MSC) function or an MSC node

[0054] One or more UEs operate in the wireless communication network 100, such as e.g. the UE 121. The UE 121 is a Voice over PS capable device (VoNR or VoLTE). The UE 121 may e.g. be 5G-RG, an AR device, a remote UE, a wireless device, an NR device, a mobile station, a wireless terminal, an NB-loT device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, a CAT-M device, a WiFi device, an LTE device and an a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, that communicates via a base station such as e.g. a base station 110, one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. a RAN, to one or more core network (CN) nodes, in one or more CNs, one or more IMS nodes, such as e.g. the network node 130 in the IMS network 105 such as e.g. an conversation AR network. The UE 121 may communicate with one or more CN nodes, and / or IMS nodes, such as the network node 130. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, client, mobile client, IMS client, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a car or any small base station communicating within a cell.

[0055] Methods according to embodiments herein are performed by the IMS node 130 and the PS CN node 151. This node may be Distributed Nodes (DN)s and functionality, e.g. comprised in a cloud 170 as shown in Figurel .

[0056] Some examples of the embodiments herein comprise one or more of the following mechanisms:

[0057] A mechanism that will take advantage of a mechanism which allows the PS CN node 151 , e.g., a PCF function node, to notify P-CSCF via Diameter (e.g., using Abort- Session-Request Command) or via HTTP-based N5 interface, about bearer setup failure with a cause indicating insufficient bearer resources.

[0058] A mechanism that will take advantage of a mechanism which allows the IMS node 130, e.g., a P-CSCF and / or S-CSCF function node, to parse and propagate the error response from the PS CN node 151 , e.g., a PCF function node, towards the TAS of the IMS node 130, within a SIP error answer, e.g., SIP 500 Server Internal Error message, with a specific reason cause, also referred to as just cause.

[0059] A mechanism, PS retry, which allows the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, to retry to set up the call, e.g. a VoNR, VoLTE or EPS FB MT call, towards PS domain access. The PS retry decision may be triggered upon the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, reception of a SIP error answer (e.g., SIP 500 Server Internal Error) with a Reason cause indicating insufficient bearer resources. New policies about PS retry activation will be defined in the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node.

[0060] A mechanism, PS retry first followed by a CS retry, which will allow the IMS node 130, e.g., an TAS functionality node, to retry a call such as e.g., a VoLTE MT call, towards PS access / LTE as a first option with precedence over a second option CS retry.

[0061] The PS retry decision may be triggered upon TAS reception of a SIP error answer, e.g., SIP 500 Server, with a reason cause e.g., indicating insufficient bearer resources and local new retry policies about PS retry activation to be defined in TAS. The CS retry decision may be triggered and executed following the legacy implementation.

[0062] Embodiments herein may provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0063] Embodiments herein increases Call Setup Success Ratio especially for 5G Voice deployments where CS coverage is expected to be reduced and / or removed. This may be referred to as CS sunset.

[0064] Embodiments herein improve VoNR Call Setup Success Ratio as there is no CS fallback in 5G System and a failed call attempt on NR is re-attempted on NR in the PS domain again to increase the probability to successful setup.

[0065] Embodiments herein introduces a mechanism that allows PS retry with precedence over CS retry, in case of failure to establish voice resources in the RAN and Packet Core.

[0066] For VoLTE and EPS FB cases this will allow a proper retry sequence by starting the first retry towards the access where the temporary failure occurred, followed by a second attempt towards the CS domain.

[0067] Embodiments herein provide an additional retry alternative to the CS-retry only option supported by the state of the art. The alternative according to some embodiments herein will be “PS Retry first, followed by a CS retry”. With this enhancement the probability of successful call setup will increase.

[0068] In addition, in case of successfull call upon PS retry according to embodiments herein, the call setup time is shorter compared to that of a CS retry. A number of embodiments will now be described, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.

[0069] A method according to embodiments will first be described as seen from the view of the IMS node 130 together with Figure 2, and then as seen from the view of the PS CN node 151 together with Figure 3.

[0070] Figure 2 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the IMS node 130. The method is for handling a failure of setting up voice QoS resources relating to an incoming voice call. The incoming voice call is to a UE 121 in a wireless communications network 100. The wireless communications network 100 supports a PS access domain. In some embodiments the wireless communications network 100 further supports a CS access domain.

[0071] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are referred to as dashed boxes in Figure 2.

[0072] Action 201. The IMS node 130 sends a first request, to the PS CN node 151. The first request may e.g., be an invite message. The first request will trigger the PS CN node 151 to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain.

[0073] The voice QoS resources may e.g., comprise any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

[0074] Action 202. The IMS node 130 receives a first indication from the PS CN node 151. The first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request. The first failure is a temporary failure.

[0075] The temporary failure may comprise insufficient bearer resources.

[0076] Action 203. The IMS node 130 sends a second request to the PS CN node 151. The second request will retrigger the PS CN node 151 to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain. This means that the PS CN node 151 will retry to setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain.

[0077] Action 204. The IMS node 130 Receives a second indication from the PS CN node

[0078] 151. The second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0079] In some embodiments, wherein the wireless communications network 100 further supports the CS access domain, and the second indication indicates i a second failure with a and / or any cause, Actions 205 and 206 may be performed.

[0080] Action 205. In these embodiments, the IMS node 130 sends a third request to the CS CN node 152. The third request will trigger the CS CN node 152 to setup the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain. This means that the CS CN node 152 will retry to setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain.

[0081] Action 206. In these embodiments, the IMS node 130 may receive a third indication from the CS CN node 152. The third indication is indicating any one out of: (iii) a third failure, or (iv) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain according to the third request.

[0082] The IMS node 130 may comprise any one or more out of: An Interrogating Call Session Control Function (l-CSCF), a Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) or a Terminating Telephony Application Server (Term TAS).

[0083] The PS CN node 151 may comprise a Policy Control Function (PCF) node.

[0084] The CS CN node 152 may comprise a MSC I MGCF node.

[0085] Figure 3 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the PS CN node 151. The method is for handling a failure of setting up voice QoS resources relating to an incoming voice call. The incoming voice call is to the UE 121 in the wireless communications network 100. The wireless communications network 100 supports a PS access domain.

[0086] The voice QoS resources may e.g., comprise any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

[0087] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are referred to as dashed boxes in Figure 3. Action 301. The PS CN node 151 receives a first request from the IMS node 130. The first request will trigger the PS CN node 151 to setup the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain.

[0088] The first request may e.g. be comprised in an Authorization Authentication Request (AAR) message.

[0089] Action 302. The PS CN node 151 is triggered by the first request, to set up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain.

[0090] Action 303. The PS CN node 151 fails the setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain triggered by the first request. The failure is due to a temporary failure.

[0091] Action 304. The PS CN node 151 sends a first indication to the IMS node 130. The first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request. The first failure is a temporary failure, such as e.g., insufficient bearer resources.

[0092] Action 305. The PS CN node 151 receives a second request from the IMS node 130. The second request will retrigger the PS CN node 151 to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain.

[0093] Action 306. The PS CN node 151 is retrigged by the second request, to again set up the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain.

[0094] Action 307. The PS CN node 151 sends a second indication to IMS node 130. The second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0095] The IMS node 130 may comprise any one or more out of: an l-CSCF, a S-CSCF, and a Term TAS. The PS CN node 151 may comprise a PCF node.

[0096] In this way by using the methods above, a first failed attempt to setup the call will be re-attempted and the chances to establish the call will be raised i.e. , the important Key Performance indicator Call Setup Success Rate will be increased. This will have a positive impact on the user experience of a user of the second UE 122, since the calling user will otherwise experience a call failure.

[0097] Embodiments herein such as the embodiments mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above.

[0098] The improved high-level T-ADS procedure according to an example of the method embodiments herein is depicted in Figure 4. This high-level procedure includes two subprocedures reflecting the two discussed Retry options, as follows:

[0099] 410. Retry PS contact in a network without CS, and

[0100] 420. Retry PS contact followed by a CS retry for networks supporting CS.

[0101] Upon call failure towards PS contact, embodiments herein provide a PS retry in both scenarios and also allows a CS retry when the second PS retry fails in a network with CS available.

[0102] An example of the sub-procedure 410 according to embodiments herein is depicted in Figure 5. 410 Retry PS contact in a network without CS is applicable when terminating UE 121 is reachable on 5G or 4G, however 5QI-1 or QCI-1 resource reservation fails due to insufficient bearer resources. The PS CN node 151 such as the PCF node, indicates in the first indication, to the IMS node 130, such as its P-CSCF, that a bearer could not be established, and the IMS node 130, such as its P-CSCF and / or S-CSCF, will send to the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, a SIP error answer, e.g., SIP 500 Server Internal Error, with a specific Reason cause indicating insufficient bearer resources. The IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, may then retry the call on the PS domain. The cause of the failure used as trigger point for the PS retry may be limited to bearer setup failure due to a temporary reasons, such as e.g., insufficient bearer resources. This is the type of errors that may be temporary and recoverable.

[0103] An example of the sub-procedure 420 according to embodiments herein is depicted in Figure 6. 420 Retry PS contact followed by a CS retry for networks supporting CS is applicable when CS coverage is available in the network and when the call delivery is attempted towards the PS Contact. The Mobile Terminating UE 121 is reachable on 5G or 4G, however 5QI-1 or QCI-1 resource reservation fails due to insufficient bearer resources. The PS CN node 151 such as the PCF node, indicates to P-CSCF that a bearer could not be established, and the IMS node 130, such as its P-CSCF and / or S- CSCF, will send to the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, a SIP error answer, e.g., SIP 500 Server Internal Error, with a specific Reason cause indicating insufficient bearer resources. The IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, may then apply a Retry strategy based on the configure Retry Policies. These policies may e.g., be:

[0104] 610. PS Retry only. For this case the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, will execute the Sub-procedure 410 described above, and if the retry fails, the call will be dropped.

[0105] 620. CS Retry only. For this case the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, will execute the CS retry procedure existing in the state-of-the art.

[0106] 630. PS retry first, CS retry second. In this case the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, will try the PS retry Sub-procedure 410 described above. If the retry fails, then depending on the failure reason (e.g. Time-out, or SIP error message) the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, may initiate a CS retry.

[0107] An example of setting up voice QoS resources for an incoming voice call to the UE 121 , e.g., setting up a terminating call flow, resulting in retriggering the CN node 150 to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, also referred to as PS retry, followed eventually by trigger the CS CN node (152) to setup the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain, also referred to as a CS retry, is depicted in Figure 7.

[0108] The starting point for the Call flow is an incoming call to the UE 121 that is connected to the PS Domain, e.g., LTE or NR:

[0109] Prior step 1-2, A terminating session setup request is received by SCC AS. T-ADS procedure result is to deliver the call to a LTE PS contact when the recent location PS radio access network supports IMS Voice over PS as obtained on Terminating Access Domain Selection TADS information.

[0110] In step 3-6, The call delivery to the PS contact continues as per standard procedures. The terminating UE 121 is contacted, and it responds with SIP: 183 containing the SDP answer that will be used the P-CSCF to trigger the resource reservation.

[0111] In step 7, resource reservation for voice QoS flow (5QI-1) is triggered based on SDP answer in 183 over Rx towards the PS CN node 151 such as the PCF node.

[0112] In step 8, the Voice QoS flow establishment is initiated in the PS CN, and it fails. In step 9, the PS CN node 151 such as the PCF node, indicates the failure event to the IMS node 130, such as its P-CSCF, with cause insufficient bearer resources.

[0113] In step 11-12 the failure is parsed by the IMS node 130, such as its P-CSCF and propagated via S-CSCF towards terminating TAS function node. At the same time the Terminating UE 121 is notified the SIP transaction is Canceled.

[0114] In step 13, the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, checks for PS retry activation policy with the incoming SIP error and cause, and if it matches, then the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, may or may not wait for a configurable timer to expire.

[0115] In step 14, the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, sends a new call setup request e.g. an SIP INVITE message, the second request, towards the same PS registered contact of the terminating UE 121. This call attempt may be successful, or it may fail.

[0116] The next steps cover the PS Retry failure scenario and are specific for the case when the UE 121 , at the beginning of the call, was connected to an LTE Cell and when a CS domain is available.

[0117] It should be noted that the next steps would not be applicable to the case when at the beginning of the call the UE 121 was camping on an NR cell since the CS breakout suppression is typically activated, a CS retry will have no chances to succeed. As result, the IMS node 130, e.g., the TAS function node, will drop the call.

[0118] Steps 15-17 depict the error cases that may lead to the CS retry procedure, assuming the provided policy is activated to retrigger the CN node 150 to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, “PS retry first, and then trigger the CS CN node 152 to setup the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain, “CS retry second”. The steps following the procedure defined in the state-of-the-art.

[0119] To perform the method actions above, the IMS node 130 is configured to handle a failure of setting up voice QoS resources relating to an incoming voice call to the UE 121 in the wireless communications network 100. The wireless communications network 100 is adapted to support a PS access domain.

[0120] The IMS node 130 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 8. The IMS node 130 may comprise an input and output interface 800 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with the PS CN node 151 and the CS CN node 152. The input and output interface 800 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

[0121] The IMS node 130 is further configured to send a first request to a PS Core Network, CN, node 151 , which first request will trigger the PS CN node 151 to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain.

[0122] The IMS node 130 is further configured to receive a first indication from the PS CN node 151 , which first indication is adapted to indicate a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is adapted to be a temporary failure.

[0123] The IMS node 130 is further configured to send a second request to the PS CN node 151, which second request will retrigger the PS CN node 151 to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain.

[0124] The IMS node 130 is further configured to receive a second indication from the PS CN node 151, which second indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0125] In some embodiments, the wireless communications network 100 further is adapted to support a CS access domain, and the second indication is adapted to indicate i a second failure with a cause. In these embodiments, the IMS node 130 is further configured to send a third request to a CS CN node 152, which third request will trigger the CS CN node 152 to setup the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain, and receive a third indication from the CS CN node 152, which third indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (iii) a third failure, or (iv) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain according to the third request.

[0126] The temporary failure may be adapted to comprise insufficient bearer resources.

[0127] The voice QoS resources may be adapted to comprise any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

[0128] The IMS node 130 may be adapted to comprise any one or more out of: an l-CSCF, an S-CSCF, and a Term TAS. The PS CN node 151 may be adapted to comprise a PCF node. The CS CN node 152 may be adapted to comprise a PCF node.

[0129] To perform the method actions above, the PS CN node 151 is configured to handle a failure of setting up voice QoS resources relating to an incoming voice call the UE 121 in the wireless communications network 100. The wireless communications network 100 is adapted to support a PS access domain. The PS CN node 151 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 8. The PS CN node 151 may comprise an input and output interface 800 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with the IMS node 130. The input and output interface 800 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

[0130] The PS CN node 151 is further configured to receive a first request from the IMS node 130. The first request is adapted to trigger the PS CN node 151 to setup the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain. The PS CN node 151 is further configured to fail the triggered setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, due to a temporary failure. The PS CN node 151 is further configured to send a first indication to the IMS node 130. The first indication is adapted to indicate a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request. The first failure is a temporary failure. The PS CN node 151 is further configured to receive a second request from the IMS node 130. The second request is adapted to retrigger the PS CN node 151 to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain. The PS CN node 151 is further configured to send a second indication to IMS node 130. The second indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

[0131] The temporary failure may be adapted to comprise insufficient bearer resources.

[0132] The voice QoS resources may be adapted to comprise any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

[0133] The IMS node 130 may be adapted to comprise any one or more out of: an l-CSCF, an S-CSCF, and a Term TAS. The PS CN node 151 may be adapted to comprise a PCF node.

[0134] Embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as the respective processor 810 of a processing circuitry in the IMS node 130 depicted in Figure 8, and processor 910 of a processing circuitry in the PS CN node 151 depicted in Figure 9 together with respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151.

[0135] The IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151 may further comprise a respective memory 820 and memory 920 comprising one or more memory units. The respective memory 820 and memory 920 comprises instructions executable by the processor in the respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151. The respective memory 820 and memory 920 are arranged to be used to store e.g., media functions, indications, tags, information, data, configurations, communication data, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151.

[0136] In some embodiments, a respective computer program 830 and computer program 930 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 710 and processor 810, cause the at least one processor of respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151 to perform the actions above.

[0137] In some embodiments, a respective carrier 840 and carrier 940 comprises the respective computer program 830 and computer program 930, wherein the respective carrier 840 and carrier 940 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0138] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that units in the respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and / or one or more processors configured with software and / or firmware, e.g. stored in the respective IMS node 130 and PS CN node 151 , that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry ASIC, or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0139] ADDITIONAL EXPLANATION

[0140] 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. Figure 10 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0141] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), 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, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 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 QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0142] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CLI-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 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 121, QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0143] 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 QQ100 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 QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0144] The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 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 QQ102.

[0145] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. 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 QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) 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 QQ108. 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 Deconcealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF). The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 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.

[0146] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Figure 10 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.

[0147] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 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 loT services to yet further UEs.

[0148] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 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 QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. 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).

[0149] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0150] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0151] Figure 11 shows a UE QQ200 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-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0152] 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 a device 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).

[0153] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 11. 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.

[0154] The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0155] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 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 QQ200. 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 input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0156] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 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 QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0157] The memory QQ210 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 QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0158] The memory QQ210 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 (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 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 communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0159] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 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 QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately. In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 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.

[0160] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, 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).

[0161] 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.

[0162] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) 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 loT 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 smartwatch, 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 loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 11.

[0163] As yet another specific example, in an loT 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-loT 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.

[0164] 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 controller operating 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.

[0165] Figure 12 shows a network node QQ300 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). 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).

[0166] 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- cel l / 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).

[0167] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 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 QQ300 comprises multiple separate 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 QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, 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 QQ300.

[0168] The processing circuitry QQ302 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 QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0169] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 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 QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0170] The memory QQ304 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 QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, 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 QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0171] The communication interface QQ306 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 QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 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 QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0172] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0173] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0174] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 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, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 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.

[0175] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 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 QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 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.

[0176] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 12 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 QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.

[0177] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Figure 10, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host QQ400 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 QQ400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0178] The host QQ400 includes processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input / output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412. 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 QQ2 and QQ3, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.

[0179] The memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs QQ414 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., FLAG, 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 QQ414 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 QQ400 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs QQ414 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.

[0180] Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 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 QQ500 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 QQ500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O- Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0181] Applications QQ502 (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.

[0182] Hardware QQ504 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 QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

[0183] The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, 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.

[0184] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ508 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 QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 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 QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502.

[0185] Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 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 QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0186] Figure 15 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE QQ112a of Figure 10 and / or UE QQ200 of Figure 11), network node (such as network node QQ110a of Figure 10 and / or network node QQ300 of Figure 12), and host (such as host QQ116 of Figure 10 and / or host QQ400 of Figure 13) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 15.

[0187] Like host QQ400, embodiments of host QQ602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host QQ602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host QQ602 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 QQ606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ650.

[0188] The network node QQ604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host QQ602 and UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network QQ106 of Figure 10) 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. The UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 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 QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602. In the host QQ602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminating at the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing 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 QQ650 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 QQ650.

[0189] The OTT connection QQ650 may extend via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide the connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 and wireless connection QQ670, over which the OTT connection QQ650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0190] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection QQ650, in step QQ608, the host QQ602 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 QQ606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE QQ606 that shares data with the host QQ602 without explicit human interaction. In step QQ610, the host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE QQ606. The host QQ602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE QQ606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE QQ606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE QQ606. The transmission may pass via the network node QQ604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step QQ612, the network node QQ604 transmits to the UE QQ606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host QQ602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ614, the UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE QQ606 associated with the host application executed by the host QQ602.

[0191] In some examples, the UE QQ606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host QQ602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host QQ602. Accordingly, in step QQ616, the UE QQ606 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 QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE QQ606 initiates, in step QQ618, transmission of the user data towards the host QQ602 via the network node QQ604. In step QQ620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node QQ604 receives user data from the UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host QQ602. In step QQ622, the host QQ602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE QQ606.

[0192] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE QQ606 using the OTT connection QQ650, in which the wireless connection QQ670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the latency and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time.

[0193] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host QQ602. As another example, the host QQ602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host QQ602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host QQ602 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 QQ602 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.

[0194] 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 QQ650 between the host QQ602 and UE QQ606, 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 QQ602 and / or UE QQ606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 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 QQ650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node QQ604. 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 QQ602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0195] 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.

[0196] 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 the processing 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.

[0197] When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

[0198] The embodiments herein are not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

[0199] Abbreviations

[0200] PS Packet Switch Domain

[0201] CS GSM / WCDMA Circuit Switched (CS)

[0202] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0203] 5G NR 5G Ny Radio

[0204] ASR Abort Session Request

[0205] ASA Abort Session Answer

[0206] MGCF Media Gateway Control Function

[0207] TAS Telephony Application Server

[0208] TADS Terminating Access Domain Selection

[0209] CSSR Call Setup Success Ratio

[0210] VoLTE Voice over LTE

[0211] VoNR Voice over NR

[0212] EPS FB Evolved Packet System Fallback IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) telephony service engine

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130) for handling a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, (121) in a wireless communications network (100), which wireless communications network (100) supports a Packet Switched, PS, access domain, the method comprising: sending (201) a first request to a PS Core Network, CN, node (151), which first request will trigger the PS CN node (151) to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, receiving (202) a first indication from the PS CN node (151), which first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is a temporary failure, sending (203) a second request to the PS CN node (151), which second request will retrigger the PS CN node (151) to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, receiving (204) a second indication from the PS CN node (151), which second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the wireless communications network (100) further supports a Circuit Switched, CS, access domain, and wherein the second indication indicates (i) a second failure with a cause, the method further comprising: sending (205) a third request to a CS CN node (152), which third request will trigger the CS CN node (152) to setup the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain, receiving (206) a third indication from the CS CN node (152), which third indication is indicating any one out of: (iii) a third failure, or (iv) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain according to the third request.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein the temporary failure comprises insufficient bearer resources.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the voice QoS resources comprises any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein any one or more out of: the IMS node (130) comprises any one or more out of: an Interrogating Call Session Control Function, l-CSCF, a Serving Call Session Control Function, S- CSCF, a Terminating Telephony Application Server, Term TAS, the PS CN node (151) comprises a Policy Control Function (PCF) node, the CS CN node (152) comprises an MSC / MGCF node.

6. A computer program (830) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (810), causes the processor (810) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-5.

7. A carrier (840) comprising the computer program (830) of claim 6, wherein the carrier (840) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

8. A method performed by a Packet Switched, PS, Core Network, CN, node (151) for handling a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources, relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, (121) in a wireless communications network (100), which wireless communications network (100) supports a Packet Switched, PS, access domain, the method comprising: receiving (301) a first request from an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130), which first request is triggering (302) the PS CN node (151) to setup the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, failing (303) the triggered setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, due to a temporary failure, sending (304) a first indication to the IMS node (130), which first indication is indicating a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is a temporary failure,receiving (305) a second request from the IMS node (130), which second request is retriggering (306) the PS CN node (151) to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, sending (307) a second indication to IMS node (130), which second indication is indicating any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the temporary failure comprises insufficient bearer resources.

10. The method according to any of the claims 8-9, wherein the voice QoS resources comprises any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

11. The method according to any of the claims 8-10, wherein any one or more out of: the IMS node (130) comprises any one or more out of: an Interrogating Call Session Control Function, l-CSCF, a Serving Call Session Control Function, S- CSCF, a Terminating Multimedia Telephony Application Server, Term TAS, the PS CN node (151) comprises a Policy Control Function (PCF) node.

12. A computer program (930) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (910), causes the processor (910) to perform actions according to any of the claims 8-11.

13. A carrier (940) comprising the computer program (930) of claim 12, wherein the carrier (940) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

14. An Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130) configured to handle a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources, relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, (121) in a wireless communications network (100), which wireless communications network (100) is adapted to support a Packet Switched, PS, access domain, the IMS node (130) further being configured to:send a first request to a PS Core Network, CN, node (151), which first request will trigger the PS CN node (151) to setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, receive a first indication from the PS CN node (151), which first indication is adapted to indicate a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is adapted to be a temporary failure, send a second request to the PS CN node (151), which second request will retrigger the PS CN node (151) to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, receive a second indication from the PS CN node (151), which second indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

15. The IMS node (130) according to claim 14, wherein the wireless communications network (100) further is adapted to support a Circuit Switched, CS, access domain, and wherein the second indication is adapted to indicate (i) a second failure with a cause, the IMS node (130) further being configured to: send a third request to a CS CN node (152), which third request will trigger the CS CN node (152) to setup the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain, receive a third indication from the CS CN node (152), which third indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (iii) a third failure, or (iv) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the CS access domain according to the third request.

16. The IMS node (130) according to any of the claims 14-15, wherein the temporary failure is adapted to comprise insufficient bearer resources.

17. The IMS node (130) according to any of the claims 14-16, wherein the voice QoS resources is adapted to comprise any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

18. The IMS node (130) according to any of the claims 14-17, wherein any one or more out of:the IMS node (130) is adapted to comprise any one or more out of: an Interrogating Call Session Control Function, l-CSCF, a Serving Call Session Control Function, S-CSCF, a Terminating Multimedia Telephony Application Server, Term TAS, the PS CN node (151) is adapted to comprise a Policy Control Function (PCF) node, the CS CN node (152) is adapted to comprise an MSC / MGCF node.

19. A Packet Switched, PS, Core Network, CN, node (151) configured to handle a failure of setting up voice Quality of Service, QoS, resources relating to an incoming voice call to a User Equipment, UE, (121) in a wireless communications network (100), which wireless communications network (100) is adapted to support a PS access domain, the PS CN node (151) further being configured to: receive a first request from an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, node (130), which first request is adapted to trigger the PS CN node (151) to setup the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, fail the triggered setup of the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, due to a temporary failure, send a first indication to the IMS node (130), which first indication is adapted to indicate a first failure of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain according to the first request, which first failure is a temporary failure, receive a second request from the IMS node (130), which second request is adapted to retrigger the PS CN node (151) to again setup the voice QoS bearer via the PS access domain, send a second indication to IMS node (130), which second indication is adapted to indicate any one out of: (i) a second failure with a cause, or (ii) a success, of setting up the voice QoS resources via the PS access domain, retriggered according to the second request.

20. The PS CN node (151) according to claim 19, wherein the temporary failure is adapted to comprise insufficient bearer resources.

21. The PS CN node (151) according to any of the claims 19-20, wherein the voice QoS resources is adapted to comprise any one out of: a voice QoS bearer or a QoS flow.

22. The PS CN node (151) according to any of the claims 19-21, wherein any one or more out of: the IMS node (130) is adapted to comprise any one or more out of: an Interrogating Call Session Control Function, l-CSCF, a Serving Call Session Control Function, S-CSCF, a Terminating Multimedia Telephony Application Server, Term TAS, the PS CN node (151) is adapted to comprise a Policy Control Function (PCF) node.

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